


Somewhere I Belong

by MsPerception427



Series: Redemption [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Gen, Good Parent Melissa McCall, Good Theo Raeken, Homeless Theo Raeken, Hunters, Hurt Theo Raeken, Hurt/Comfort, Liam Dunbar is Theo Raeken's Anchor, M/M, Protective Liam Dunbar, Protective Pack, Scott McCall is a Good Alpha, Theo Raeken Needs a Hug, Theo Raeken is Liam Dunbar's Anchor, Theo Raeken-centric, Theo is a Little Shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-09
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2019-03-29 02:46:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 32,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13917756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsPerception427/pseuds/MsPerception427
Summary: Six months after the War, Theo is struggling to find his place in the Pack. It seems no matter what he tries, he’s never going to be part of them. After a particularly brutal encounter with a group of hunters, his life is hanging in the balance. It’s up to the rest of the Pack to reconcile their feelings towards the chimera and help him find something worth living for.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first foray into the Teen Wolf fandom. Well my first published story in the Teen Wolf fandom. I've been toying with ideas for years. But I finally got it together and wrote... this.... I don't even know what to call this. But hopefully someone enjoys!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Theo has the day from Hell but it has to get better from here... right?

Theo was exhausted. Actually he was reasonably sure that he bypassed mere exhaustion a few days ago. What he was experiencing now was a true test of how far a supernaturally enhanced body could go before it ultimately collapsed. Deaton would be both interested in the results and quietly disappointed, all before somehow managing to make the simple suggestion of taking a nap into a cryptic statement. But between being forcefully coerced into supervising (read: babysitting) the Beacon Hills Puppy Pack (Stiles’ insultingly accurate nickname for Liam, Mason and Corey along with their two new strays, Nolan and Alec) as well as being bullied into finishing his senior year by the very no nonsense having Argent, Melissa and the Sheriff, and not forgetting all the supernatural crap the freaking Nemeton attracted simply by existing there was little time to find rest. Well, little time and the pesky matter of no actual place.

Six months had passed since the war ended and none of his so called pack seemed to notice that he was homeless. At first, he was proud of his ability to keep it hidden but now he was just exhausted all the time and kind of just wanted someone to notice… someone to actually care about what was happening with him outside of what a potential threat he could be. Then again, what good would that do? Even if they noticed, it’s not like they would care. He would just be under more surveillance than he already was. Between check in meetings with the Sheriff, Principal Martin and occasionally Melissa, Argent and Deaton, not to mention Scott and Stiles, Theo did very little without someone noticing. Actually, it was fairer to say he managed to do very little of importance. He did somehow managed to hide that he was homeless.

“Mr. Raeken, we’re not boring you, are we?”

Theo jumped at the sharp jab to his side before letting his biology teacher’s words register. Her tone led him to believe this was not the first time she tried calling his name. The exasperated concern on Corey’s face next to him pretty much solidified that theory. Theo raked a hand through his hair and mustered his most charming smile. Judging by the uptick in heartbeats around him, it was working. Apparently pale and exhausted was a good look on him. Good to know since it didn’t seem like his situation was changing any time soon.

“So sorry, Ms. Rawlings. Could you repeat the question?”

“I was asking about the difference between aerobic and anaerobic organisms.”

“Oh, well aerobic organisms are organisms that can’t survive without oxygen since they depend on aerobic cell respiration to obtain energy for ATP production. Anaerobic organisms actually can exist in environments devoid of oxygen.”

“Very good, Mr. Raeken. Now can anyone tell me under what conditions aerobic organisms use fermentation? Don’t volunteer all at once.”

Theo sighed in relief as the majority of the class shifted focus away from him and towards avoiding their teacher’s searching gaze. But he could still feel the attention from the few members of the pack that he shared this class like it was a physical attack. He turned his head to glance over his shoulder, not at all surprised to find Liam’s intense stare meeting his. Mason was hovering beside the beta with a similarly thoughtful expression on his face. Theo huffed and turned back around.

He could still feel them staring though. He could smell the concern and worry around them. It was cloying and uncomfortable. It was then that he remembered why he was glad they never paid attention to him before. Their kind of concern could be stifling and downright suffocating. Then again they learned from Scott McCall, the true alpha and the biggest worrywart in existence. If Liam learned anything from Scott after being bitten it was how to smother the person you’re worried about until they either gave in to the concern or flung themselves into oncoming traffic to escape from the aggressive affection. If he didn’t know he would heal from it, and ultimately have to face even more of Liam and his blue puppy dog eyes of doom, Theo would happily choose the latter option. Unfortunately, though he was a chimera, he would still heal. And slowly too. Yeah, just wasn’t worth it in the end.

“What are you thinking about so much?” Corey murmured. His voice was barely audible to the rest of the class. Well to the human members of the class. Theo knew without even looking that Liam was intently focused on their conversation. Because of that, Theo was tempted to blow off Corey’s question or make some rude and dismissive response but… he couldn’t. He and Corey were finally in a place where he could say they might actually be friends one day. He didn’t want to do anything to intentionally ruin that.

“Nothing much,” Theo responded, staring down at his notes. They made no sense. They were basically just random squiggles and doodles. He would be upset if he didn’t know he was getting a passing grade thanks to nearly ten years of living with the Dread Doctors. At least something good came from that experience.

“You feeling okay?”

“Yeah, just a little tired. Nothing to worry about.”

Corey opened his mouth like he was going to question him further but thankfully the bell rang. Theo hurriedly packed his stuff and was out his seat and away from the far too perceptive chameleon before he ended up spilling his guts. Or even worse crying. After years of suppressing his emotions, a few months around the McCall pack had worn down those walls and he kept feeling things. Emotions were a pain and the more time he spent around the other teens, the more he kept experiencing them. Thankfully, his next few classes were free from his fellow puppy pack members and he was looking forward to time away from the never ending scrutiny that seemed to follow him today.

He was about to enter the classroom when he felt a hand wrap around his wrist. It said something about the amount of time he spent with the pack… with Liam, that his first instinct was not to react violently but rather to sigh heavily before turning to face Liam and his predictably intense puppy dog eyes of doom.

“Yes? Can I help you?”

Liam rolled his eyes and refused to rise to the obvious bait. Rude. “Are you okay?”

“You’re the second person to ask me that today,” Theo replied, forcing a smile. Liam’s hand tightened. “I’m fine. Just tired.”

“You don’t smell fine.”

“You’re finally getting the hang of chemo signals and you’re using them against me. I’m wounded.” But Liam surprised him once again by not going along with the silent plead to change the subject. He only stared up at Theo like no one else in the world mattered. That nothing else was more important in that moment than Theo’s answer to his question. He supposed that it would be the same if their positions were reversed. Hell, they have been reversed before. Theo sighed, wiggling his arm so that Liam was holding his hand in a more comfortable grip. He let their fingers intertwine briefly before letting go.

“I’m really okay, Little Wolf.”

Liam stared at him for a long moment. The bell signaling the warning bell for class rang loudly and yet they remained. Finally, the younger teen nodded. “Okay. I’ll believe you. But you know I’m here for you if you need me, right?”

“I know,” Theo promised. And he did know. It was just so hard to admit he was in way over his head. “I’ll see you at lunch. Okay?”

Liam nodded again. “Yeah. I’ll see you at lunch.”

The younger teen gave him one last smile before jogging off to where Corey and Mason were still waiting to walk to their next class. The couple were wearing matching smirks and said something to Liam that Theo couldn’t pick out amidst the general chaos of people scurrying to get to class before the late bell rang. He watched as Liam blushed, throwing a quick look over his shoulder at Theo before shoving a giggling Corey and Mason towards their classroom.

Despite himself Theo felt a small smile form on his lips. He knew that he still had a lot of atoning to do. He had a lot to make up, not just to the pack but also to himself. But it was the little moments like this that made him believe that he could. That he had friends and a life worth living now. Maybe he could actually turn this whole thing around after all.

* * *

 

Two packless classes, a surprise pop quiz he wasn’t even remotely prepared for, a lab project that exploded all over him thanks to his airheaded partner who spent more time trying to get him to notice her chest rather than the beaker in front of them, and another reminder from Principal Martin that he needed to check in with Parrish and the Sheriff after school later and Theo was seriously rethinking his previous optimism. Everything seemed more hopeless than before. His head was hurting thanks to the noxious chemicals that had seeped into his clothes. The exhaustion that had been lingering around him seemed to come back with a vengeance and the very thought of moving just seemed to hurt. Adding a meeting with Parrish and the Sheriff to his already spiraling day just didn’t seem appealing. It was yet another blow to his already crumbling self-esteem. He honestly didn’t think he could take one more hit today.

“What do you mean you’re out of food?” Theo asked, incredulous but mostly tired. Rosie, the amazing lunch lady who always slipped him extra fries and tater tots, gave him an apologetic smile.

“It’s Sloppy Joe day, kid. You know its first come, first serve.”

“Yeah,” Theo sighed. Normally, he was one of the first on the line. But instead he was trying to blot out as much of the failed chemistry experiment as he could. It wasn’t much help. Now he had no food and the lingering headache-inducing odor.

“I’m so sorry, honey. But there’s still some food on the other side. I’m sure you can find something there you like.”

Yeah, something that he would have to pay for. He legitimately couldn’t afford that right now. He had to do laundry tonight. He was running low on funds so he thought he could push it back a few days. But the scent was driving him crazy and he didn’t have any more shirts or pants to spare. So laundry was definitely happening. He knew he could run a few errands for Deaton for cash but that was usually only on the weekends. It was only Wednesday. Deaton was just as fanatical about their education as Melissa and the Sheriff.

He raked a hand through his hair, wincing as it aggravated his headache. He was a teenager. He wasn’t supposed to be making the decision between laundry and lunch. Then again he had lived through a lot of things he shouldn’t have had to live through, things maybe he didn’t deserve to live through, and he survived those. This was just one more thing to endure.

“Thanks, Rosie. I think I’ll pass. But tomorrow I’ll be first on line.”

“If you’re sure,” Rosie said, her voice was hesitant. Theo could smell the concern on her. Her eyes were narrowed and seeing far too much. But he was too tired and too hungry to keep his mask up for long. He needed to nip this conversation in the bud. “You sure I can’t get you something? My treat? A reward for being such a sweet kid.”

Theo forced himself to smile and shake his head. A small voice in his head that sounded too much like Liam begged him to accept her kindness. But the logical part of his mind that resembled Tara reminded him that he didn’t deserve kindness. He was reaping the consequences of his actions. He was meant to suffer.

“Uh, thanks, but I’m okay. I’ll just bum something off the guys until dinner.”

“Okay,” Rosie finally replied with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “If you’re sure.”

“Yeah, I’m sure. Thanks, Rosie.”

He spun on his heels before anymore of her well-meaning concern slipped through the cracks in his emotional walls. He already felt like he was dangling off the ledge of some pending emotional breakdown. He didn’t need anyone purposely attacking the defensive barriers he built to keep his emotions out of the way. He managed to survive almost eighteen years without emotions but of course Scott McCall and his pack ruined all that. He helped one kid die a painless death and all of a sudden he was an emotion ridden hot mess. This damn pack was going to be the death of him one of these days. Again.

“You reek,” Liam said as Theo joined them at the table, taking his usual spot in the empty seat next to him. The older teen rolled his eyes as the beta continued to wrinkle his nose. “What happened to you?”

“Isabel Forrester,” Alec Martinez, their newest recruit to the pack, answered for Theo. He smirked at the eyebrow Theo raised. “Word gets around, bro. Especially when you hear more than most.” Theo snorted. Something that turned into a more genuine laugh as Alec slid one of the sandwiches on his tray towards Theo. “You were late. I figured you wouldn’t forgive yourself if you missed one of Rosie’s Sloppy Joes.”

Theo nodded his head at the meaning behind that statement. Alec was a little too aware of Theo’s money problems. He hadn’t quite figured out the homeless part but he knew that Theo didn’t always have money for food. And what little he did have went towards dinner for Scott’s mom. So missing the free lunch sometimes meant he didn’t eat at all. At first he was upset when Alec found out that he was the one dropping dinner off for Mrs. McCall. But as he bit into his lunch, Theo couldn’t help but be delighted the kid was nosey as hell.

“You never save me food,” Liam protested, looking over at his fellow beta. The younger teen shrugged, taking an exaggeratedly slow bite from his own sandwich.

“You never give me rides to school in the morning,” Alec finally replied after several long moments of chewing.

“You give him rides?!” Liam snapped, looking between the chimera and other werewolf as if they had just announced they would be performing ritual human sacrifices after school. “How long has this been going on? When did this start?!”

“Let’s see… when the school year start?” Alec asked, tapping his chin in mock thought. “Yeah, like sometime around then.”

“That was two months ago!”

“Look at you! You can tell time.”

Ordinarily, Theo would be goading him on. The relationship between Liam and Alec was amusingly antagonistic and Theo couldn’t help but be secretly proud of just how quickly the younger beta could get under Liam’s skin even with his anchor around. So he was usually all in for these moments but right now his head felt like it was about to explode. He just wanted to shut this down before it got too ridiculous.

“Are you two… dating?!”

Too late.

Theo folded his arms on the table next to his half eaten sandwich and rested his aching head there. He heard the argument escalating, both in volume and nonsense, before there was a sudden end. The silence registered right before he felt a familiar gentle touch on the back of his neck. Slowly some of the pain was reduced helping him to think a little clearer. It was then that he recognized the person touching him. He could sense Liam’s confusion and concern.

“Theo?”

“Yeah?” he murmured, not bothering to lift his head.

“Why are you sitting here silently suffering when surrounded by two werewolves who are more than willing and able to take the pain away?”

Theo pushed himself off the table and away from Liam’s hand. He tried to focus on Liam’s face. Though the beta had taken away some of the pain, his head still felt too heavy. And it hurt to think through the fog settling in his brain. “It wasn’t anything against you guys. It’s just a headache. I had it under control. I’m fine.”

“You look like crap,” Mason pointed out helpfully. “You’ve looked like crap for a few days now. Are you getting enough sleep?”

“Yes, mom,” Theo lied, concentrating on keeping his heart steady. “I get enough sleep. I just have a headache. Probably from the chemical shower I took last period.”

Mason narrowed his eyes, resting his elbows on the table and staring at Theo thoughtfully. The chimera did not like the assessing look in the human’s eye. He fidgeted under Mason’s dark eyed stare. Out the corner of his eye he saw Alec trying to think of a distraction but Corey (Corey!) shut him down before he could even start. Theo fought the urge to whine.

“What’s really going on?” Mason asked finally. “You’ve been acting weirder than usual for the past few weeks. And I didn’t say anything because I thought it would even out eventually but I think you might actually be getting worse.”

“I’m….”

“No,” Liam cut him off. “You’re not fine. Not even close. You keep saying that you know you can talk to us but you won’t.”

“Can we not do this right now?” Theo pleaded. “Please?”

“Maybe we should….” Corey started only to be cut off by Mason and Liam. The chameleon shot Theo an apologetic look.

“No, we have to do this now, Core. Look at him!”

“He looks like crap,” Mason chimed in.

“He’s right here,” Theo hissed, dragging the attention back to him. “And he’s tired of you talking about him like he’s not. He’s also tired of being told that he looks like crap!”

“Is he also tired of talking in the third person?” Alec asked, trying to defuse the situation.

Theo ignored him. “If I say I’m fine then I’m fine. This may come as a surprise to you all but I’ve been taking care of myself for a while and I’ve made it this far. I know no one in the McCall pack trusts me but would it kill you to try and believe me when I tell you something? Especially about me?!”

“Wait, what do you mean we don’t trust you? Why would you think…?”

“Principal Martin just told me that the Sheriff and Parrish want to meet with me after school for yet another check in on the evil chimera.”

Liam’s jaw dropped. “Wait, what do you mean another check in meeting? I didn’t even know you were doing those to begin with. Since when?”

Something in Theo snapped in that moment. He knew it was irrational but he was tired. He was just so freaking tired. And they just wouldn’t let it go. Why couldn’t they just go back to the casual indifference they normally showed when it came to him? Why did they have to pick today to notice the things that had been wearing him down for months? Today when his defenses were at all-time low and he just couldn’t pull up the same walls that he normally did.

He blinked when he realized they were all looking at him for answers. Well, everyone except Alec. The poor kid looked upset. It wasn’t safe to say that no one in the pack knew what was happening. Alec knew a little but not the whole story. Though he suspected that Alec had an idea what with the frequent invitations to stay over when Melissa was working an overnight shift and Chris was out chasing down Monroe. Theo rubbed the bridge of his nose as if that would push away the headache throbbing in time with his elevated pulse.

“I don’t know why you guys are so surprised. I know that that at least a half an hour of every Pack check in meeting, meetings I’m not a part of by the way, but at least thirty minutes of those meetings have been dedicated to talking about my progress. Or lack thereof most likely.”

“How did… really, Alec?!”

“He deserved to know that you guys talk about him,” Alec shrugged. “I don’t know what you talk about since you send me out the room but I also know it’s a dick move to talk about your friends behind their backs.”

“Theo, I promise you, it’s not what you’re thinking,” Corey started.

“Then what is it? What more can I possibly do?! I go to school every day. I help out with all the supernatural craziness. I drive you guys around whenever you ask. I just don’t know what else….” Theo trailed off as he realized what the answer was. It was obvious. It was in his face this whole time and he stupidly let himself believe otherwise. “Nothing. There’s nothing more I can do. Nothing will ever undo what I’ve done. I’ll never be good enough.”

“Theo?” Liam asked, gently placing his hand back on Theo’s shoulder. But even that soft touch was too much in the moment. He lifted a hand to swat the younger teen away but misjudged both his swing and just how close Liam was to him. Instead of swatting him away, Theo ended up punching him in the nose. He was all too familiar with the crunch of breaking bones against his knuckles. He felt his stomach roll in a sickening echo.

“Oh shit,” Alec yelled, jumping up. “Theo? Hey, it’s okay, dude. Theo!”

“No,” Theo murmured, climbing to his feet and backing away. A heavy silence fell on the cafeteria as all eyes locked on the five members of the Puppy Pack. Everyone was there that day but Nolan. He was probably going to be sad he missed the day Theo ruined everything. The day he proved them all right. “No, no. I’m so sorry… I’m so… Liam.”

“Theo,” Liam said, his voice muffled by the hands he held over his broken nose. Theo could see the blood seeping through his fingers. He missed how Liam’s eyes were only focused on him. “Theo, it’s okay.”

“No. I’m so sorry. I fucked up. I’m… this is why. I should go.”

“Wait, go?” Mason spoke up, also standing up. His eyes were wide with surprise and something else. Something Theo couldn’t place. Not right now. Not when everything was just too much. He screwed this up so bad. “Theo, it’s okay. It was just an accident. No one wants you to go anywhere, man. It’s okay.”

“I… I…”

“What the hell is going on over here?” Principal Martin snapped as she stalked over to the table. Her eyes darted between Theo’s hands and Liam’s face. he felt himself shrink under her glare. “Of course. Mr. Raeken, why am I not surprised? This is the second incident you’ve been involved in today.”

And that was the final straw. He knew this was it. The Pack already didn’t trust him. The Pack parents already hated him. All he had to do was keep on the straight and narrow and he couldn’t even manage that. He couldn’t do anything. And now he attacked the interim pack alpha, Scott’s precious beta wolf. He would be lucky if Malia wasn’t hunting him down by the end of the day. He had to go. Clearly this wasn’t working. He tried and he just kept screwing up. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get it right.

He needed to go.

So ignoring Corey, Mason and Alec yelling for him, Theo spun on his heels while Principal Martin was prodding Liam’s already healing nose and ran out of the cafeteria, not stopping until he reached his truck. His hands shook as he turned the key in the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot. He thought he saw Liam and Alec on the front stairs but decided it was just something that his hurting psyche made up. His mind slipped into autopilot as he drove aimlessly away from the school and the life he so clearly did not belong in. His phone buzzed on the seat next to him but he couldn’t bring himself to even glance at it.

He just drove. 

* * *

 

When Theo first came back to Beacon Hills, he found himself drawn to the bridge where his sister died. Whenever he needed to think or needed space from the rest of the chimera pack, he would drift to this one spot. He didn’t know why in those beginning days but it became clear once he returned from hell. He kept coming back here because he felt remorse. He felt guilt. Tara wasn’t the best sister. She was always annoyed by her weak, frail little brother but she didn’t deserve this. She didn’t deserve to die with said brother watching and doing nothing. He came here to reflect on the person that he was and the monster he became.

He wanted to blame it all on the Dread Doctors but he couldn’t. They saw something in him. They easily could’ve picked Tara but instead they chose pathetic Theo who was always overlooked, undermined and ignored. They sensed the darkness in him and groomed it. They made him feel like he was special and important. He was able to disregard all of the glaring warning signs that said the Dread Doctors were wrong because for the first time in his life someone thought he was special. He was an idiot back then. Maybe he still was. But it was so much easier for him to ignore his own stupidity back then. Not so easy these days.

Things in general were so much easier when he didn’t feel anything. When he came back to steal Scott’s pack, he felt nothing. He didn’t care about the damage he was causing, the chaos he was wreaking. None of it mattered because he never mattered. But now… hell broke him. It made him feel everything. And try as he might, he couldn’t turn it off. He felt remorse and regret and guilt and pain and suffering and he knew he deserved it. He deserved it all. But there was still a small part of him that thought he could somehow belong. That somehow he could prove to them, to the pack, that he was changed. He could be a good person. But now he knew that he couldn’t. They would never see him as anything other than the Chimera of Death. Last year, that would’ve made him happy. But now, it broke his stolen heart.

When he came back to Beacon Hills, it was to steal Scott’s pack. He failed and was sent to hell. Now that he was back, he wanted the pack again. But not in the same respect. Or maybe it was. Maybe he was just so damn screwed up back then that he couldn’t admit to even himself that the reason he wanted the pack in the first place was so that he wasn’t alone. And he tried so hard. He worked and bled and hurt and still he wasn’t part of them. He would never be a part of them. Maybe being an ally on the fringes was all he deserved. After everything he did, the fact that they even let him near them was probably as good as it got.

He sighed and rested his head against his upraised knees. Being on the bridge brought out the most complicated of emotions. It was where he felt the most connected to his sister but it’s also where he let her die. It was the place he should never want to go to and yet the only true place he felt at peace. Here he couldn’t hide who he was.

This is where he went to be vulnerable and let himself feel all of the things he tried to avoid, up to and including, what the hell he was going to do now that he seemingly ruined even his status as a pack ally by assaulting Liam in the middle of the cafeteria and in front of Principal Martin. He should just leave town for good. There was nothing in Beacon Hills for him but dark memories and ghosts. He could leave and find a new town and have a fresh start. Maybe even find that sense of belonging he was always searching for.

But as soon as the idea of leaving would pop into his mind, images of Liam, Alec, Corey and hell even Mason and Nolan would chase those thoughts away. He couldn’t leave them. He might not be part of them officially but he couldn’t leave them. He cared too much. But he didn’t know what else he could do. And so he sat.

Theo had been sitting by the bridge for what could’ve been five minutes or five hours when he first realized he wasn’t alone. He snapped out of his circuitous thoughts and realized that night had settled around him. The once peaceful woods were suddenly dark and threatening. He listened closely for anything that didn’t belong. And then he heard them. Several heartbeats spread out. His nose caught no familiar scents. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. It said a lot that gunpowder and the metallic odors of bullets were becoming an easy to place scent for him.

He was ready for the first shot but couldn’t do anything against the second one that rang out from somewhere in the cover of the trees. The bullet caught him on the leg but he managed to stay upright. If he fell, he died. He had to stay up.

He counted at least six heartbeats. The wound on his leg stung as he moved to find cover. His veins felt like they were on fire. Wolfsbane. Dammit. They were hunters. And here he was all alone. No one knew where he was. He didn’t know if anyone was even looking for him. So he had no backup or means to get it. There were at least six hunters out there. Six against him using wolfsbane laced weapons and he was already injured. He fought against the panic bleeding into his thoughts. He’s been in worse scrapes than this and survived. He lived through the Dread Doctors. He could live through this too.

He forced himself to dodge as another shot was fired in his direction. He could sense their growing frustration as all finesse in their attacks was abandoned. They attacked at once and for a brief moment, Theo let himself revel in the thrill of a fight. He enjoyed the adrenaline rush that let him push his aches and pains to the back burner for a brief moment. He let himself take out all the worries and concerns on the hunters that were stupid enough to come after him. They might be hunters trained by Monroe herself but he was a chimera. He’s been fighting all of his life. He was going to keep fighting until the bitter end. But that wasn’t going to be tonight.

He didn’t know how much time passed but in the end he stood surrounded by the unconscious and not dead bodies of the hunters that tried to kill him. He lost track of just how many hits the men got in but all that mattered was that they were no longer a threat. He took the time to make sure that his attackers were securely hidden away. He didn’t need something less concerned with them living coming along and finishing the job Theo started. He didn’t see that going over well with the pack. They would probably assume he did it to begin with. With a heavy sigh, he reached for phone in order to notify the Sheriff, frowning when his hand found nothing. It was then he remembered he left his cell in his truck. The buzzing had gotten too distracting and he left it behind while trying to clear his head. He contemplated just using one of the hunter’s phones but was hit by a sudden wave of dizziness. He glanced down at his shirt and saw that it was soaked with blood. Black veins pulsed around the various scrapes, cuts and bullet wounds. Right. Poison. He had to get back to the truck.

With the threat of the hunters so prevalent in their lives, Argent, Melissa and Deaton had insisted that the supernatural members of the Puppy Pack carry a vial of the nine essential herbs in case of wolfsbane poisoning. It would help buy them time until they could get somewhere safe. Theo remembered being surprised when Melissa pressed a vial in his hand. But he shrugged it off. He was almost always with Liam or Alec. She probably wanted to make sure her son’s betas were covered on all fronts. It had nothing to do with him. Still he hoped she wouldn’t mind him using it now. Because he really needed the vial tucked safely in the glove compartment in his truck.

Every step he took towards where he left the truck sapped his already waning strength. The adrenaline from the fight was fading and he could feel his body trembling. The relief he felt when he finally saw the blue truck rivaled that of when he finally made it out of hell. He staggered the last few steps before collapsing against the side of his truck with body shaking, coughs wracking his body. He wiped the black blood away from his mouth before pulling the passenger side door open. His vision was getting dimmer but he found his phone. He had just managed to unlock it when another coughing fit sucked the air out of his lungs. His vision grew darker and he couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t…

The phone slid out of his hand as Theo’s body finally gave into the fog he had been fighting for far too long. His legs buckled and he slumped half in his truck and half out. As his eyes slid closed, Theo wondered how long it would take someone to find his body out here. He was pretty far out in the preserve. No one knew he was out there and most likely no one was even looking. After his display at school earlier, no one would be concerned about the volatile chimera. By the time anyone even noticed he was missing, he would probably have bled out. He wondered if they would mourn his death or celebrate. But the pressing thought that haunted as him as he fell into darkness was what would be waiting for him when he opened his eyes. He knew it would be Tara scrambling for her heart. And he deserved nothing less.

 


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the pack meets to reevaluate some things and come to some new conclusions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What?! I totally wasn't expecting much more than maybe a handful of kudos and maybe like one comment. I'm so shocked and happy. I'm glad you liked the first chapter. I hope you like this one too!

Melissa McCall sighed, glancing at the clock while absently biting into an apple. The sad piece of fruit was the only meal she had since starting her shift four hours before. Once again, she forgot to pack a meal for the late shift. In all honesty, she sort of forgot on purpose these days. For the past five months, whenever she came to work there was usually a bag of food with her name on waiting for her. At first, it was picked up from a local diner but more recently it was something homemade and delicious. The nurses at the front desk where it was usually waiting refused to tell her who her mysterious benefactor was as the person swore them to secrecy. It had to be someone special (or attractive) to keep those gossips quiet. Normally they couldn’t wait to spill any and all secrets. So, her food patron remained anonymous and Melissa decided to just reap the benefits.

She didn’t realize how much she had grown to rely on those meals until suddenly they were gone. When she arrived for work there was no bag waiting for her and sad faces on the older nurse who usually shared an overnight shift. It just basically confirmed that whoever it was that was dropping off her food was cute. But it didn’t matter because whoever it was missing in action. She almost called Chris but she knew he was meeting with some source that had possible information on Monroe’s location. And it all sounded shady as hell and she was not about to call him and distract him for something as petty as food.

That also left Alec out. The young wolf was living with her and she was pretty damn close to adopting him as a second son. He was a good kid that had lived through some pretty horrific stuff. So he blended in quite well with the rest of the pack. But more importantly he blended in quite well with Melissa and even Chris. He was self-sufficient. By the time she came home from work on the nights she had off, he usually already had dinner ready and waiting and his homework was usually done. She really couldn’t ask more of the kid. She knew that he would be at the hospital in a heartbeat if she called him to ask him to bring her food. He would probably blink his eyes and beg Theo for a ride. And the chimera would likely give in.

That was where the problem came up. Theo, much like her dinner, was missing. And Alec, along with the rest of the Pack and Parrish, was out looking for him. There was no way she was going to call him and ask him to abandon the search because she was hungry. Alec sounded as close to panicked as she had ever heard from him when he called earlier to tell Melissa that Theo had run away after what sounded like a truly awful morning. He then sheepishly admitted that he spilled the beans about the pack meeting about Theo behind his back. She couldn’t find it in herself to be mad about that. She knew it bothered Alec as he had grown quite close to Theo since moving to Beacon Hills. She didn’t understand how their friendship even started or how it worked but it was clear that it was helping them both.

It helped Theo having a member of the Pack that was removed from the things he did in the past and was only judging him on his current actions. As for Alec, it helped having someone that didn’t mind when he would lapse into random silences. And Melissa was reasonably sure that his improved grades in science and English was a direct result of a certain chimera. So she knew they were close and she didn’t want to jeopardize that by bringing Alec into the meetings they were having about Theo. But it wasn’t what either of them thought. They had been meeting recently about Theo but it was more out of a mutual concern about their chimera and how to address said mutual concern.

Melissa wanted to say that they were concerned from the beginning and that they cared from the start. But she wasn’t in the habit of lying to herself or others. No, the concern started when Theo left his jacket at the McCall house after a pack gathering a few weeks ago. She hadn’t noticed it until the next day thinking it was Scott’s or Alec’s. She tried calling him after realizing it was neither of her kids’ but he didn’t answer. Seeing that it was a weekend, she decided to just drop it off at his house on her way to work that evening. But when she got to his house, it was beyond obvious that no one had lived there for years. Something struck her in that moment but she pushed the thought to the side. She didn’t even want to put the thought out there. She went to work intent on breaking into his medical file to get his address when she oddly enough ran into a surprised looking Theo leaving the hospital. She didn’t bother asking why he was there, instead asking him about his living situation. She watched as he grew even more flustered and she didn’t need to be a werewolf to know the kid was lying to her face when he gave her some rushed spiel about updating his new address and getting right on that. He was gone before she could press him about the details.

After that encounter she started paying attention to the chimera and she didn’t like the picture she was putting together. She brought in Noah, Chris and Parrish. That’s when Noah admitted that they were doing record keeping for all the incident reports from when the Anuk-Ite was plaguing the town. He found a disturbing number of reports from his deputies about finding a teenage male sleeping in a blue vehicle that sounded way too much like Theo’s truck. The reports stopped for a bit but they started against shortly after the war and Monroe left town. And they seemed to be even more frequently like the deputies had some kind of vendetta against the teen. Which if it was Theo then they probably did. Melissa didn’t bother to ask what happened to those deputies. She knew Noah had a no tolerance policy when it came to harassing any teenager, especially one that he knew personally.

She didn’t want to believe that Theo was homeless. She didn’t want to think that they all just willfully ignored the signs that something was wrong and failed to care enough to just pay attention. But the evidence was there staring her in the face. They had dedicated the end of a few pack check in meetings to the topic of how to approach the chimera about... well everything. Theo had always been a wild card but since he came back from hell, he was an emotional wild card. It was agreed that given that part of his nature, it would probably be best if Noah or Jordan approached him. Honestly, Melissa thought he would respond better to Parrish alone but she knew Noah was upset about how deputies handled the situation and insisted on being there as well. Should they fail to get through to him, the rest of the Puppy Pack would step in. Melissa was really hoping that they wouldn’t fail.

But the talk never happened because Theo ran away before either man could meet with him. She didn’t even want to imagine how Natalie spun this one to provoke such a visceral reaction from the normally unflappable chimera. So the Pack and Parrish were out looking for him. Melissa could only hope they found him before something happened. She was worried. Both Liam and Alec said he was in pain earlier and they all noticed he was visibly paler and thinner these days. Theo was clearly reaching a breaking point and Melissa found herself obsessing more and more about the once hated chimera. She knew he changed and she was kicking herself for not letting him know that she was aware of his changes. She vowed that when they found him, she was inviting him to dinner the next night she was off and having a movie night with him, Alec and Chris. The image brought the first smile of the evening to her lips. A smile that very rapidly disappeared as the hospital doors slid open revealing a disheveled and bloody Jordan Parrish.

Her mouth dropped open and she started to ask what happened when she noticed that he was carefully cradling something… no, someone in her arms. The deputy had clearly been running from the parking lot and came to a halt by the nurse’s station letting the head of the person loll back against his shoulder. She was rushing towards Jordan and their missing chimera before she even realized she was moving. She motioned for a gurney and helped ease Theo’s injured body down as gently as they could. He remained deadly still throughout the whole process, not even letting out a groan as they aggravated his many injuries. Melissa found herself putting her fingers against his throat, hoping desperately to feel a pulse. And then she found it. It was a weak fluttering beat but it was there.

“What happened?” Melissa asked.

“Hunters,” Jordan growled, his eyes flashing an angry golden. She heard one of the nurses squeak. The younger man cleared his throat and look down.

“Page Dr. Geyer and tell him we have an S-Ward case,” Melissa snapped over her shoulder to one of the other hovering nurses.

She could see the poison running through his body. She knew that as a chimera his body reacted differently to wolfsbane. It didn’t affect him as strongly as it did the other weres but it could in high doses. And it seemed that every injury on his body was designed to introduce as much wolfsbane to his system as possible. Black blood leaked from multiple wounds on his torso. She could make out bullet wounds, some with exits and others without along with several lacerations that looked like they came from a knife. How long was he fighting?

“Goddamn hunters,” she hissed while still running her eyes over his body cataloging the variety of injuries. She ripped open his shirt to get a better look at his chest. There was a deep laceration sluggishly bleeding entirely too close to his heart. And definitely too close to his lungs. She lowered her head close to his chest and focused on the labored breathing. There was an audible hitch. She leaned back and saw that his lips were tinged with blue. “He needs oxygen and we need to start prepping an OR. He’s got damage to his lungs.”

“Dr. Geyer is already waiting in room seven,” an orderly responded handing her the requested oxygen mask. “His son called and let him know that the kid would be coming through. He said that he’s a chimera?”

“Yeah,” Melissa said, adjusting the mask over Theo’s face. She couldn’t help but run her hand through the sweat soaked hair. Her other hand was holding onto his wrist, trying to time his pulse even as they moved towards the operating room. His skin was cold and clammy. If it wasn’t for the stuttered breathing and the weak pulse she could feel beating against her thumb, she really would’ve thought he was dead. But he wasn’t and she was going to do everything in her power to make sure it stayed that way.

“He’s a mix between coyote and wolf. His body composition is a lot like a normal were but he’s got a stronger resistance to wolfsbane and none to mountain ash. He also doesn’t heal as fast as a normal were. Get me the stuff we use on the wendigos. That should keep him under.”

Melissa never thought anything good would come from the supernatural being exposed to the whole town. But she also didn’t think Theo Raeken could be rehabilitated. So it was safe to say that she wasn’t always right. But at any rate, with the knowledge that the supernatural was real, several members of the staff wanted a ward dedicated to helping injured and sick were creatures and the like. Dean Geyer was the strongest advocate when he learned that his very own son tended to get patched up by the town vet. The final outcome was the S Ward which specialized in treating supernatural creatures and related afflictions. Melissa lived in dread of the day she saw any member of her son’s pack come through these doors. But the fact that it was Theo was particularly upsetting. It was like a personal failure.

It took longer than Melissa wanted to think about to get the chimera in anything resembling stable condition. His healing wasn’t working like it should. It had less to do with the poison coursing through his body at the moment and more to do with the horribly weak condition his body was in before being introduced to something that was designed to kill him. But still he was stable. There was a chance he would make it but it was touch and go. It was a matter of waiting now. Melissa helped Dr. Geyer move Theo up in one of the secure private rooms in the S Ward before deciding to take a much needed break and most likely answering the questions that she knew were coming.

So after changing into a clean set of scrubs, Melissa made her way downstairs. She wasn’t at all surprised to find that Parrish never left the hospital after they wheeled Theo away. She found the deputy slumped at a table in the cafeteria, picking at a bagel with one hand and texting intently with his other hand. Two coffees sat on the table untouched. He changed his clothes in the time that they took to get Theo stable. Someone brought him a new shirt and a comfortable looking hoodie. Still she couldn’t help but see the blood that soaked his other clothes. Theo’s blood. Melissa let out a shaky breath, wiping her hands on her scrub covered hips. Jordan’s head snapped up when he heard Melissa enter the room. He stood up.

“Hey,” Jordan greeted. He gestured towards one of the free seats at his table and slid one of the coffees her way. Melissa took it gratefully. It was still warm. She started to question it when Jordan let his eyes flash with a slight smirk. She rolled her eyes. Show off. Jordan’s smile faltered. “How’s he doing?”

“Okay for now. But it’s… not good. What happened out there? How did you find him?”

“We were all out searching when Liam had a hunch. He told me that one time he and Stiles found Theo out deep in the preserve by the river his sister drowned in. I was the closest so I volunteered to check it out. I got there just in time to see him pass out. I called Liam to give him a heads up and then I drove Theo’s truck here.”

“God,” Melissa sighed. “What the hell was he doing out there alone?! Doesn’t he know it’s dangerous?!”

“I don’t know. I think he was just trying to get away. From what the boys told me, he was out of it all day and then everything at lunch happened. And it was too much for him. I think he finally reached that breaking point.”

“Yeah,” Melissa ran a hand over her face. “We were right.”

“I know,” Jordan went back to ripping his bagel apart. “He is living in his car. The truck smells too much like him. I saw a pillow and sheets back there and more than just a few changes of clothing. He’s actually living in his truck. How the hell did we miss that?!”

“We really screwed this one up.” Melissa rubbed her temple absently. “We were so busy making sure he wasn’t plotting anything or trying to kill anyone that I don’t think we ever even thought about his living situation. I don’t think he’s even thought about anything other than his homework or how to protect the pack since the hunters.”

“Possibly even since the Ghost Riders. I was kinda not around for that whole thing though so I can’t be too sure,” Jordan said with a tilt to his lips. Still the moment passed and his earlier somber mood settled again. “He’s really been trying these past few months and we just keep ignoring it. Ignoring him.”

“I’ve fished more bullets out of that kid in one month than I have on ER duty in a year,” Melissa mused. “Yet I know that Deaton sees him much more than I do. So I can’t imagine what he’s putting himself through. He takes the hits so the others don’t. And for what? A bunch of people that didn’t care that he was slowly wasting away?”

“It’s okay,” Jordan tried to assure her but Melissa was never one to be comforted by empty words. This wasn’t okay. There was no way to spin this that would make it okay.

Theo did some unforgivable things. She wasn’t sure she would ever really forget the side of her son lying dead in front of her. But she knew he was working hard to make up for his past behaviors. And instead of acknowledging those changes, the pack just continued on like everything was the same. They used him and let him believe he was expendable. That their lives mattered more than his because he had a penance to pay. The more she thought about it the guiltier she felt. Even Peter was treated better than Theo and he had done so much harm to so many members of the pack. And even he had been forgiven. But Theo remained an outsider who had proven time after time that he was willing to fight, bleed and possibly even die for a pack that barely acknowledged him. That wasn’t okay at all.

“No,” she finally said aloud. “It’s not okay. But it will be. First things first, I need to have a long talk with my son and his friends. Then we need to figure out a plan for Theo. He can’t keep living in his truck. Not with hunters on the loose.”

“Yeah,” Jordan agreed. He grinned suddenly. “But it’s not just because of the hunters, is it?”

“Keep it up, smart ass,” Melissa teased with no real heat behind it. “So where are the rest of the puppies?”

“Nolan, Liam and Mason volunteered to go round up the hunters with Argent. Alec was at your place. He thought maybe Theo would’ve come there too. Sheriff is on his way to pick him up now.”

“What about Corey?”

“I’m not entirely sure he’s not already here to be honest. Kid goes invisible. He could be around all the time. I’ve caught him sneaking up on me more times than I count. You’d think that he would learn to stop after the first time I roasted him but no. He keeps trying. I used to think he was the sane one but I’m starting to realize he might be just as insane as the rest of the pack.”

“And on that bizarrely affectionate yet disturbing note, I’m going to go check on Theo. Let me know when the boys get here.”

“Sure thing,” Jordan replied as she stood up. She was halfway out the door when she heard him yelp. “Dammit, Corey! I told you to stop sneaking up on me!”

“And I told you to stop setting me on fire when I do!”

Melissa hesitated for a moment but decided that for once Theo was going to take precedence. Besides Corey really did need to learn to stop snapping into existence in front of people that could, would, and have burn him alive. He would figure it out one day. So Melissa ignored the two bickering young men knowing that Mason and the other boys would be along soon enough. She kept going until she reached Theo’s room. She was secretly glad no one else was around to hear her heart lurch at the sight of the chimera.

While she was meeting with Parrish, the other nurses had cleaned the teen up and changed him into a standard issue hospital clothing. His chest was out to accommodate the still not healing wounds on his chest but he was wearing a clean pair of pants and warm socks as Melissa pulled a second blanket over his shivering body. The lack of his usual street clothing and ever present smirk helped illustrate just how much of a toll the recent events in the town had taken on the chimera.

She couldn’t help the tears that formed as she took in the noticeably thinner teen. His skin was always pale but now it was practically translucent and stretched against his face. He had lost a lot more weight than he could afford to lose. She could vividly recall just how many ribs stood out on his chest while she and Dr. Geyer worked on pulling bullets from his chest. Just as troubling were the dark purpling bruises beneath his eyes. Was he not sleeping well? True, he was living in a truck but she had to wonder if it was something more than just that.

Almost as if following some invisible prompt, she heard him let out a soft yet clearly distressed whimper. Melissa’s brow furrowed as she moved closer to the bed. They gave him sedative strong enough to keep a fully grown and feral wendigo down. There should be no way he was waking up or even dreaming. And yet…. She looked down at him as he moved slightly in his sleep. His mouth forming words that he gave no sound for. Tears leaked from his eyes and his fists clenched. The heart monitor started to pick up demonstrating his growing distress. Without hesitation, Melissa leaned over the edge of the bed and started carding her fingers through his hair. It was even softer than it looked and her fingers slid through the inky tresses.

“Shhh,” she murmured. “It’s okay, sweetheart. You’re safe. It’s okay.”

His heart rate continued to rise and she increased her nonsensical crooning in response. Gradually, he started to settle. His heart rate evening out until it was finally back to normal. His face relaxed as the sleep of the drugged claimed him once again. Still she remained by his side, looking down at the sleeping teen. No, the sleeping boy. He was a kid. He wasn’t even eighteen yet. People assumed he was the same age as Scott and Stiles because they were all in the same grade but Melissa knew that Theo was skipped a grade when he first moved to Beacon Hills as a child. He was actually closer in age to the rest of the Puppy Pack. There was barely six months between him and Liam. He was young and doing all of this on his own.

She didn’t know how long she sat there, humming quietly and continuing her gentle ministrations with his hair. It could’ve been minutes or even hours but Theo was calm and that’s all that mattered to her in that moment. She only stopped paying attention when the door to his room opened revealing Noah and Chris. She didn’t know how much Jordan had told them but it was obviously not enough as they both stopped short for a moment before making their way across the room to the bed. Both men eyed the unconscious teen with looks that were a combination of horror, guilt and sympathy. She knew her own expressed likely mirrored theirs.

“Parrish said it was bad but I think he was grossly underestimating the situation,” Noah said quietly. “He looks half dead.”

“He was half dead. Actually, we lost him on the operating table for a very terrifying minute,” Melissa admitted. Chris moved to her side, and squeezed her shoulder lightly. She looked up at her boyfriend and found that he was staring at Theo. “We really messed this up.”

Noah nodded. “We did. If it hadn’t been for him leaving his jacket, I don’t think we even would’ve given his situation much thought.”

And Parrish wouldn’t have been out at preserve looking for him. Theo might have actually died out there. The thought sent a chill down her spine. She reached up, placing her hand over the one Chris still had on her shoulder

“There were six hunters,” Chris reported. “They ambushed him. The fight looked brutal. Judging by the weapons they were packing, Theo is lucky he was even able to walk away from it at all. They were unconscious when I found them. But not dead. He even hid them from sight so that the less friendly creatures that roam the night didn’t take a bite out of them. The kid’s definitely made a change for the better.”

“More like he went back to the kid he used to be,” Noah mused. Melissa met his gaze and arched an eyebrow. He smirked slightly, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’re not the only one who remembers him. I remember him too. Floppy hair, too big clothing, chasing after Scott and Stiles who never quite figured out how to expand from a duo to a trio.”

“I think it’s safe to say that he found his pack though,” Chris said. “The boys have been itching to get in here for the past hour. But Dean won’t let them in since it’s after visiting hours. I’m pretty sure they’re about to circumvent that soon.”

Melissa snorted. “I’m pretty sure they already have. Remember one of them does go invisible.” They paused as a barely audible sneeze came from the far corner of the room followed by a chorus of quiet grumbles. Melissa tilted her head to the side as she examined that corner thoughtfully. It was the closest to the bathroom, which did have a rather large window that was easily accessible since it was on the ground floor level. She couldn’t believe that she was so preoccupied with Theo that she missed their entrance into the room. Especially since they were so damn obvious.

“Boys, you can come sit with him in the morning. For now, let him rest.”

“Fine,” Liam hissed before he appeared, clearly having separated from the rest. He paused his petulant stomping towards the door to spare the sleeping Theo a soft, concerned look. He started to reach for him when he shook his head and finally left the room. Melissa wasn’t at all surprised when a newly visible Mason, Alec and Corey followed in his wake. Nolan gave them all an apologetic look before shuffling after the rest of the Puppy Pack. She rolled her eyes fondly. Her fingers still absently brushing through Theo’s hair.

“Yeah, I think he has.”

* * *

 Scott liked to pride himself on being the kind of alpha who could admit when he made a mistake. It didn’t hurt that there were plenty of people in his pack that were willing to call him out when he did screw up. That’s why he was so surprised that the Theo situation had gotten so completely out of control. Although upon further examination, it really wasn’t that surprising. They all tended to look the other way when it came to the chimera. He was always on the fringes of the group. They asked him to fight for them, risk his life for them and he did. Every single time. But they didn’t have his back in return. They screwed up.

“ _How is it that no one ever realized he was homeless_?!” Lydia’s incredulous voice scolded from the phone and echoed around the empty waiting room they were using for their impromptu pack meeting. As they were clear across the country, there was no way either Stiles or Lydia could be present but that wasn’t going to stop them from participating. “ _Seriously! You hang out with each other every day! No one ever thought it was weird that you never went to his house? That you never saw his parents? Like ever? Not once?!_ ”

Scott gently cleared his throat when it was clear that the banshee’s words were hitting the younger members of the pack hard. But he knew she was coming from a place of concern. Lydia was one of the few older members of the pack that didn’t have a problem with Theo. She definitely was the only one of them who contacted him just to say hello. She was the one who knew how he was going in school. God, they really screwed this up. He shook his thoughts off when he noticed Alec raising his hand hesitantly. Scott smothered the urge to laugh and nodded in his direction.

“I don’t get it. We know he’s homeless now so let’s fix it. Why can’t he just stay with me and your mom? We still have Isaac’s room. He’s off living his best life in France, I don’t think he’s going to need it. So let Theo move in with us.”

“No way!” Liam protested, because of course he did. “If he’s moving in with anyone, it should be me. My parents both agreed to clear out the spare bedroom for him after Dad explained the whole thing to Mom. Theo can move in with me.”

“Why? You didn’t even know he was homeless and you’re the closest to him. He’s your anchor and I’m pretty sure you’re his anchor. And you didn’t even know. How does that work?”

“Shut up, new kid!”

Scott laughed bringing an end to their bickering. “Look, we’ll present the idea to Theo. I’m getting the feeling that he’s not living a life full of opportunities to make choices for himself. So this would be a really great place to start. Let him decide where he wants to stay.”

“What if he doesn’t pick either option?” Corey asked.

“We make it clear that he’s part of the pack. That means that he’s going to let his pack help him.” Scott paused looking around the room. “He is pack, right?”

As expected, Liam, Mason, Nolan and Corey were quick to agree. Malia huffed from her seat beside him but offered nothing to the contrary. That was a good as it was going to get with the werecoyote. But it was Alec’s confused face that really caught his attention.

“Was there ever a doubt that he was? I mean he brings your mom food during her overnight shift. I don’t even do that and I love her,” Alec replied, seemingly oblivious to the surprised faces around him. “I mean I mostly didn’t do it because he did but yeah…. And what? Why are you all looking at me like that?”

Melissa shifted forward on the couch. “Theo is the one that’s been bringing me dinner?”

“Yeah?” Alex looked around with understanding dawning in his eyes. “Oh, you genuinely didn’t know? Oh, wow. Okay, that explains some things. But yeah, he’s being doing that since the week Scott left. He said he felt bad because you’re always so busy helping the pack out and that’s why you tend to forget to pack food for work. So he’s been doing it for you. I knew he was having some money issues so after I found out that he was the one buying you dinner, I started making him come to the house and use the food there to make you dinner.”

Scott watched as tears formed in his mother’s eyes. She took a moment to compose herself before asking anymore questions. “How’d you find out?”

“I came by the hospital one night and smelled him on the bag. I asked him about it and he swore me to secrecy. So I made him give me rides to school in exchange for my silence.”

“That’s why he’s been giving you rides!” Liam blurted, flushing immediately. Scott fought the urge to laugh. Was the beta always this obvious about his crush? Alec rolled his eyes.

“Maybe at first. But honestly I probably only had to ask. For the so called Chimera of Death, he’s honestly a big pushover. He even helps me with my science and English homework on his own because he’s a big nerd who’s pretty much read every book ever. So to go back to your original question, yeah. He’s pack.”

Scott blinked at the youngest beta before nodding. Then he turned his attention to the phone and the couple that had remained silent thus far. “Lydia?”

“ _Oh please_ ,” Lydia scoffed and he could practically see her rolling her eyes. “ _Theo has been a part of the pack since he remembered Stiles. He’s been fighting for and with us ever since. Of course, he’s pack_.”

“Stiles?”

“ _I… I still want to hate the guy but he’s changed. Dad tells me all the time that he’s turned it around_ ,” Stiles said around a sigh. “ _He isn’t the same guy that went to hell. He’s changed. The guy that came back… that guy is part of the pack_.”

Scott smiled. Though he was fully prepared to stand his ground on the issue, he was happy that he didn’t have to fight back against them. It was true. Theo had changed and was still changing. Scott was just too blinded by the past to completely pay attention in the beginning. While it was true that Theo did some horrible things, it was also true that he was working hard to get past that. It was time they started paying attention. It was time they took care of him the same way he was apparently working to take care of everyone else. He was family.

“Well, I’m glad we’re all on the same page. I actually have the week off from class so I can sit with him here until he wakes up. That way he’s not alone.”

Scott was resolutely going to stick to saying when and not if. He refused to believe that Theo could or would die when he finally got everything he wanted: a place to belong. No, he would wake up and when he did he would have someone sitting by his side.

“I can sit with him,” Liam protested.

“No way,” Melissa countered. “You’re going to school, young man. All of you are. Principal Martin is willing to excuse Theo but honestly he’ll be okay. Somehow the homeless kid has missed less days of school than all of you.”

“And that includes his stint in hell,” Chris added with an amused smirk.

“Oh, I see how it is,” Mason said, grinning despite his efforts to sound put out. “Theo is going to be the favorite soon, isn’t he?”

“Well, he’s already Liam’s favorite.”

“Alec!” Liam sputtered. “Shut up!”

“What? Like we all didn’t already know?”

“Malia!”

“ _She’s right though_.”

“Lydia!”

“Dude, you were literally holding hands with him in the hallway earlier today.”

“Corey!”

“Pretty sure the only reason you’re not holding his hand right now is because your dad won’t let you back in the ICU since you wouldn’t stop dramatically crying over Theo’s body.”

“Mason!”

“Okay, that’s enough, guys,” Scott cut in before his beta died of embarrassment. Although…. “Enough teasing Liam about his huge gay crush on Theo.”

“Scott?!” Liam wailed before burying his red face in his hands.

“Dude, seriously? The whole pack knows about your crush on Theo except for Theo,” Mason explained. “And that’s only because he’s too busy making heart eyes at you when he thinks you’re not looking.”

"He likes you," Alec said, sounding bored already but Scott knew better. "Trust me. Yes, he gives me rides in the morning but most of it is spent talking about great you are. 'Oh Liam is so good at lacrosse. You should try out for the team too, Alec. It'll help you bond better with Liam' 'Liam is probably going to be an Alpha one day. He's so great.' Dude, 90% of my attitude towards stems from Theo gushing about you. It's nice to know you're just as sappy about him."

Scott noticed that Liam’s blush grew but so did the happy quirk to his lips. He really hoped that this was the final push to the pair getting together. Even though they were painfully oblivious to the way they treated Theo, Scott knew he wasn’t alone in noticing that Theo and Liam complimented one another. They were better together than apart. They fed off one another and made a hell of a team. It was also common knowledge that Theo was Liam’s anchor. Given the younger wolf’s IED, Theo’s ability to calm him and shift focus should’ve been more than enough to endear him to the pack. The fact that it was clearly a mutual thing should have also been more obvious. But they all had a lot to learn here. Mistakes were made and Scott was going to make sure that they were addressed and fixed.

Scott promised himself that he was going to make this up to Theo. He would be there when, not if, Theo woke up because like hell they were going to lose him now. No, he was going to learn that he was loved, whether he liked it or not.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Theo will be back next chapter. I just needed to get the Pack together and on the same page.


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Theo wakes up, conversations are had and decisions are made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, thank you, thank you!! I loved all the kudos and comments and bookmarks. Thank you so much. I'm so happy you're all liking this story. Here's the next part.

When Theo opened his eyes, he was surprised not by where he was but rather what was happening around him. He was used to waking up to the medicinal smells of the hospital. The scent of chemicals, fear, and death clogging his nose and reminding him of his time with the Dread Doctors. The darkness of the morgue was a frightening replica of his home for close to ten years. He knew he had a few moments after waking before Tara was scrambling towards him, ready to reclaim what was hers. He was used to that. But this time when he opened his eyes, it was to an entirely different scene.

He was surrounded by warmth and sunshine. Instead of the hard slab in the morgue, he was resting on a surprisingly comfortable bed. There was a thin starchy sheet covering him with a slightly heavier blanket that smelled oddly like Liam tucked under his chin. But the weirdest part of this dream was the steady heartbeat near his bed that was both familiar and strange at the same time. Scott was sitting in a chair pulled very close to the bed. His head was tipped back slightly with little snores escaping softly. Theo felt the lingering panic and disassociation start to fade as the gentle thrumming of Scott’s heart lulled him. It comforted him. Because Scott was the Alpha… he was Theo’s Alpha. For the first time since he came back to this stupid town, Theo actually felt a connection. He actually felt like he had a pack and an alpha.

“What?” Theo murmured aloud rousing Scott from his light doze. The book he was reading fell from his lap with a heavy thud. He looked around the room slightly confused before his gaze landed on Theo. His expression brightened and Theo saw the beginnings of a smile forming at the corner of his mouth.

“Hey! You’re awake.”

“Hi,” Theo replied. He looked around the empty room, both disappointed that Liam wasn’t there but also not really surprised. Why would he be there? “What time is it?”

“It’s a little past eleven.”

Theo tried to inch up on the bed but winced as the movement pulled at his still healing chest. Scott saw the aborted movement and took pity on him by helping him so that he was sitting upright. Theo lifted a hand to cover the bandages still covering his chest. He didn’t want to know how bad the damage was that he wasn’t fully healed yet. Then again he didn’t even know how long he had been there.

“School?” he asked around a suddenly dry throat.

Scott tilted his head to the side and gave him that crooked grin even as he handed the chimera a glass of water, helping him hold it steady when Theo’s hands proved to be too shaky to secure the hold on the glass. “Yeah, school is in today but I think you’re going to have to wait a little longer. At least a few more days.”

“How long have I been here?” he asked, brow wrinkling in confusion.

“It’s been about five days,” Scott answered, taking the half-empty glass back from Theo. His grin grew even as Theo’s eyes widened. “Sorry, you had to wake up to only me. But it is a school day and they really can’t afford to miss any more school.”

“They were… they wanted to be here?”

“Yeah, I had to pull pack hierarchy to get them to stay out of here today. They were really hoping you would wake up over the weekend. Of course, you had to wait to wake up on Monday. Liam is going to kill me.”

“Liam was here?” Theo asked in lieu of addressing any of the other things Scott just mentioned. “And the others?”

“Of course they were. The whole pack was here minus Stiles and Lydia. But Lydia wanted me to pass along a message.”

“Yeah?”

“Pack is family and family takes care of each other. Especially this pack,” Scott said firmly. His eyes were boring into Theo’s as he tried to make him understand what he was saying. “We would do anything for each other.”

“I know that,” Theo whispered. And he did. He knew that Scott’s Pack would move heaven and hell for each other. It’s part of what made being on the sidelines so painful.

“Then what happened?” Scott asked, gently. “Why didn’t you talk to us about… well, anything that was happening to you?”

“I’m not part of your pack.”

Scott scoffed. “Aren’t you? What do you think Liam or Corey or Alec would have to say about that? But it’s more than just them. You’ve been pack since the ghost riders honestly. But you really proved yourself with the hunters. You are a part of the pack. Not just Liam’s but mine as well. You’re family.”

Theo swallowed and nodded. He didn’t really know what he was supposed to say to all of that. Did they care? The whole pack was there? Now that he was paying more attention he could see signs around the rather spacious room that spoke truth to Scott’s words. Liam’s lacrosse jersey was draped over one of the chairs in the room.

Alec’s favorite hoodie lay on the other bed in the room. One of Scott’s jackets that Malia borrowed indefinitely was in the room as well. One of Corey’s lacrosse socks was on the floor and Nolan’s history textbook was on the table. The oversized sheet lying on his bed was definitely Liam’s. He recognized it as the one Liam’s mom, Jenna, used to cover them the one night the boys all ended up falling asleep while watching movies at the Geyer’s house. Though Theo’s senses were muted, he could still smell them. Their worry, concern, and love were imprinted in the room. It was true. And yet….

“You don’t believe me, do you?” Scott asked, sensing his hesitance. “But it’s more than that, isn’t it? You don’t think you deserve it. But if we could forgive Peter and Deucalion, I think you’ll find that we’re more than capable of forgiving you.” Scott paused, shifting forward in his seat and resting a comforting hand on Theo’s leg. “And I hope that one day, you’ll forgive us.”

“What….?” Theo trailed off. He didn’t even know what question was even on his mind. Scott thought he needed forgiveness? After everything Theo did, what could the alpha possibly think Theo should forgive them for. He supposed the question must’ve been written on his face because Scott laughed softly, shaking his head.

“Sending you to hell.” Theo’s felt his heart skip a beat and the hand on his leg tightened in response. “That was…cruel. Yes, you manipulated and betrayed us. You did some awful things. But we’ve faced people who have done worse and faced fewer repercussions than you. We’ve faced Gerard, Peter, and Deucalion. Don’t even get me started on Ms. Blake. They’ve all put us through hell and we’ve never done anything like what did to you. They had opportunities to redeem themselves and betray us again but still… we never gave you that chance. For that, I’m so sorry, Theo. You didn’t deserve hell.”

Theo knew he was staring but he couldn’t help it. Nothing about Scott’s scent indicated he was lying at all. He genuinely believed this. He was genuinely remorseful about sending Theo to hell. He didn’t think that Theo deserved that. Even after everything that the chimera put his pack through, Scott actually believed that they owed him an apology. Theo swallowed against the sudden lump in his throat. Doesn’t it figure? He’s spent most of his life without giving into his emotions. A few months with these guys and he’s feeling everything. He blinked against the insistent stinging in his eyes.

“Scott, I…” his voice sounded choked even to him. He cleared his throat. “I don’t…”

“Theo, it’s okay,” Scott said, moving his hand to the chimera’s shoulder. “I know you’ve been doing this alone for so long. And I’m so sorry it took us so long to notice. We’re not always the smartest pack. But we’re here now. We’re with you. You’re not alone.”

Hearing those words that he longed to hear from someone, anyone, broke the emotional dam that protected Theo’s stolen and fragile heart. The sobs tore from his healing body with a violence that scared even him. He expected Scott to shift away or even take it all back, tell him it was a joke. But instead, the alpha squeezed his shoulder a little tighter before gently tugging him closer. It wasn’t quite a hug but it was enough. Theo’s head was resting against Scott’s and the older teen’s arm was wrapped around his shoulder. He lost track of how long they sat like that but he was quietly grateful for Scott’s warm and steady presence through his full-on emotional breakdown. He appreciated that Scott didn’t try to offer words or try to comfort him in any way other than just being there. Theo was quietly grateful for that.

Then suddenly Scott was gone. Theo barely had a moment to mourn the loss of Scott’s calming aura much less be confused as to why it was gone before he found himself face first in an all too familiar embrace. One thing he learned early in the weird friends/more than friends dance he was in with Liam was that the beta was very tactile. It was something that Theo wasn’t used to at first but gradually grew more comfortable with. At least he was with Liam. He was still learning with the others. But hugs and cuddles were totally something he was used to from Liam. That’s why he wasn’t that surprised to find his head tucked Liam’s chin. The beta’s long hair tickling his cheeks.

Theo moved back as best he could to see that Liam was glaring at something just over Theo’s shoulder. With great effort, Theo craned his head back as much as he could to see that the something was Scott and there was currently a wall of Puppy Pack Members standing between the alpha and the bed. Corey, Mason, and Nolan stood side by side preventing Scott from getting to the couple on the bed. Alec was there too but standing on the sidelines looking far too amused. He winked and smirked when he met Theo’s confused gaze.

“Liam, everyone,” Scott started, sounding more entertained than anything. “What are you doing and why aren’t you in school?”

“Liam’s Theo Sense went off and he left so we left,” Alec replied like there was nothing wrong with ditching school to check on their invalid chimera.

“Okay, but why does that involve you blocking him from me? Are you… protecting Theo from me?”

“You were supposed to talk to him and make him feel better. You weren’t supposed to break him and make him cry!’ Liam hissed.

Theo felt a myriad of emotions at that moment. Confused as to why anyone would protect him of all people. Warm that they cared about him in the first place. Amused that this whole misunderstanding was happening in the first place. And mostly just amusement now that he thought about it. This was hilarious. They were standing up to Scott, their Alpha, for him. It was really sweet and really, really stupid. He couldn’t help the snort that came through before he dissolved into honest to goodness giggles. He knew he sounded slightly hysterical but he couldn’t help it. These were the idiots he willingly called friends.

“Oh my god! I think you actually broke him!” Nolan exclaimed, sounding far too dramatic for Theo. This prompted him to laugh more, burying his face on Liam’s shoulder in an effort to contain himself.

Liam cradled him closer and started to rock the chimera in his arms. Theo let the moment last for a bit. He was still human after. And despite the fact that his friends were insane and somehow thought Scott was bullying him, he couldn’t deny that it felt really good being this close to Liam. Still… Scott didn’t deserve this.

“I’m fine, you idiots,” he said, pushing Liam away a little. The trio turned around to look at him. Despite his attempt at looking grumpy, he couldn’t help the fond smile on his face as he accepted that they were his friends and they cared. “Scott didn’t break me. I promise.”

They never had a chance to reply as Melissa chose that moment to enter the room. She stopped short as she looked at the room full of more people than she was clearly expecting. And then her eyes landed on Theo. He watched as her gaze warmed and a small smile graced her lips before she was turning her attention towards the other boys.

“I told you,” she started, pointing at Scott, “to tell me the second Theo wakes up. And I told you all to go to school and I would think about letting you stay in here past visiting hours. Why am not surprised that not only is Theo awake and I didn’t know but you’re all here and I didn’t give you permission?”

“Because you know us so well and love us anyway?” Mason tried. Melissa glared. He squeaked holding out his hand for Corey. The couple vanished suddenly. Nolan took several exaggerated steps to the left to get away from the full force of Melissa’s glare that was now focused on him alone. Theo snorted as both Corey and Mason yelped when he stepped on them.

“Alright, let me check out my patient. You can get in your stealth snuggling later,” Melissa said while shooing a furiously blushing Liam away. Theo watched her as Liam hurriedly yet carefully untangled his limbs from Theo’s and moved to the other side of the bed. The beta seemed a little lost until Theo lifted the hand not attached to an IV reaching towards him. Liam smiled softly and held onto his hand tightly.

Theo subjected himself to Melissa’s very thorough exam and answered questions as honestly as possible. It didn’t escape his notice that she still managed to shoot a look at Scott or Alec whenever she wasn’t certain about his answers. He wasn’t bothered. He probably would lie if it wasn’t for the fact that his ability to suppress his own heartbeat wasn’t working. None of his senses were working like they should. He knew he wasn’t immune to wolfsbane but his body’s total shutdown seemed like an extreme reaction.

“Yellow wolfsbane,” Melissa said as if answering his silent question. “The weapons were laced with yellow wolfsbane. The hunters meant business. That stuff isn’t easy to come by or cheap. But Chris is reasonably sure the ones who attacked you were all that was left of that group. He rounded up the rest of the wolfsbane and destroyed it.”

“So apparently I’m just as allergic to that as you are,” Theo joked weakly. Liam squeezed his hand in response. He smelt the sadness and worry coming from the beta. He turned his head towards Liam. “I’m okay, Little Wolf. Right, Mrs. McCall?”

“It’s Melissa,” she corrected, removing her gloves. “And yes, you’re going to be okay. The poison should be completely out of your system by tomorrow. I’m pretty sure that’s why you woke up. Your healing was weakened and it needed all the help it could get. We’re going to keep you here until it’s completely gone. There may be some long-term side effects but I think they’re going to be minimal at best.”

Theo nodded. Melissa held up a hand indicating that she wasn’t done. The twist of her lips also indicated that he wasn’t going to like what she had to say. 

“But we need to talk about why your healing was weakened. It wasn’t just the wolfsbane. Your body was already suffering from severe malnutrition. That and a lack of sleep was wreaking havoc on your body. Add in a couple of doses of the worst kind of poison and we’re lucky that you’re awake and having this conversation now,” Melissa explained. Theo swallowed as he felt the tension rise in the room. Corey and Mason reappeared and were watching him with matching worried expressions. Scott had an arm around a guilty looking Alec while Nolan hovered in the background looking just as concerned but slightly awkward.

But it was Liam who caught Theo’s attention… just like he always did. The beta’s blue eyes were sad and knowing. Oh god, they all knew. His gaze flickered between every member of the pack assembled in the room and he realized that they all knew now. They knew he was homeless. They knew he was living in his car and eating whatever free meal he could. He felt small under the combined weight of their stares. Small and ashamed.

“Theo?” Liam asked quietly but he refused to look up. He heard Melissa sigh.

“Alright, boys, out. And I don’t mean go down the hall and listen, I mean out. Go somewhere that’s not here. Chase your tails, run a lap, I don’t care. Just go.”

Liam grumbled but eventually, Theo felt him letting go of his hand. There was more shuffling and muttering and then quiet. The pack was gone leaving him behind with Melissa. Hesitantly, he looked up to meet her steady gaze. She twitched her finger at him asking him to shuffle over. He did so with a confused look that morphed into one of complete surprise as she climbed onto the bed beside him and swung her legs up so that their sides were pressed together.

“Jell-O?” he blinked as she suddenly pulled a Jell-O cup out of her shirt pocket. “I’ve had to hide these. The boys seemed to think Jell-O is a part of the hospital experience for everyone, not just the patients. You’re down about twelve of those, kiddo. Your pack is relentless.”

Theo took the red colored treat when it seemed like Melissa wasn’t going to take no for answer. She handed him a spoon when he finally had it in his hands. She then waited patiently for him to take a bite. It was still cold. Theo realized the nurse must carry one into the room every time she entered on the off chance that was the time he was awake. He was only here five days and she said he was down twelve cups. He felt both warmed by the affection and so painfully aware of how much he didn’t deserve it.

“They,” Theo started before shoveling a spoon full of the dessert into his mouth. He swallowed before meeting her eyes. “They really stayed here by my side the whole time?”

“They really did,” Melissa confirmed. “You were never alone. They were worried that you would wake up without someone here and think they didn’t care. So I mean it when I say that you were never alone. They were here all day and all night over the weekend. I think the staff is going to be extremely happy you’re awake. And not just Delores.”

“Who’s Delores?” Theo asked, trying to sound innocent. Melissa smirked.

“The delightful front desk nurse who wouldn’t tell me who my mysterious dinner benefactor was no matter what I tried. You’re going to have to tell me your secret, kid. That woman never stops talking but she wouldn’t give you up no matter what. She’s your biggest fan. Well next to Liam anyway.” Theo could feel his cheeks heating up and decided now was a great time to look down at his Jell-O. Melissa laughed.

“Anyway, all of the staff will be happy to see you awake. It wasn’t just Delores that was worried about you. You had me and Dr. Geyer pretty worried too. Also, your pack is annoying and we will all be glad when they’re gone. No one wants to deal with a bunch of teenage males and Malia being confined to a small area again. They only managed to avoid getting kicked out because it was obvious that they care about you.”

“I care about them too.”

Melissa smiled, crossing her arms over her chest. “Yeah, I know you do. I’ll admit that’s not something I thought you were capable of at first but I can admit when I’m wrong. I’ve had a lot of time to think... about everything. You…” now it was her turn to trail off. She licked her lips before continuing. “Things weren’t easy for you, before or after the Dread Doctors. And yes, you did a lot of bad things but you’ve also done a lot of good. You’re starting to break even a little here.”

Theo fought the flush rising to his cheeks but knew judging from her snort of amusement that it didn’t go unnoticed. He shuffled down further on the bed turning her snort into an actual giggle. He glared up at her through the loose strands of his hair.

“I want to propose something to you, grumpy face,” Melissa said, poking him on the cheek. He bit on the side of his cheek to hide his growing smile. “I want us to move forward. We’re not going to dwell on the past and the bad things you did. Let’s focus, instead, on the future and the good that you’ll do. And I know you’re capable of doing good things.”

He looked up at her again. She smiled softly. “I know about you bringing me food even though you weren’t eating enough and you didn’t even take credit for it. And kid, I’ve had your food. It’s great. You should be singing your own praises. Where’d you learn to cook like that?”

“Um, the Geneticist. She was insistent on teaching me stuff other than science. She said I needed to have a life and hobbies. She also gave me books to read that weren’t all science related. She wasn’t that bad. I mean for an evil scientist.”

Melissa laughed. “It’s okay to not hate one of them. They raised you for better or for worse. It’s possible that bad people can do good things. But it’s also possible to be a good person who does bad things because they’re scared or it’s the only thing they know how to do. You are not a bad person, Theo Raeken. You’re a good kid who did bad things but has been working pretty hard to move past that.”

“I’m not…” he trailed off at her no-nonsense glare.

“You are. You’ve helped Alec feel more at home with the Pack. He barely spoke before you started hanging out with him. You drive Mason, Corey, and Liam around whenever they ask and wherever they ask. You fight for every member of this pack even when they don’t necessarily show you the same level of support. So who you were and what you did is in the past. Let’s focus on the future. You think you can do that?”

Theo nodded shakily. “Ye, um, yes. I think that I can.”

“The jury will accept that,” Melissa grinned before turning serious. “Now we need to talk about where to release you when you get out of here. Because it’s not to a truck. You have to know that a seventeen year old living in a truck isn’t safe in any town much less in Beacon Hills, Theo. Even when you were at your worst, you had to know that we weren’t going to just leave you out there. it wasn’t safe.”

“I know! But I had a plan.” Theo shook his head. “I was going to get a job so that I could ultimately save enough money to get an apartment and….”

“Theo, between the ridiculous course load you carry at school, the pack and the general supernatural weirdness that is Beacon Hills, how was getting a job and saving enough money to afford to rent an apartment was going to work?”

“Scott did it. Well, not the apartment thing, but he managed to have a job, be an alpha and be captain of the lacrosse team.”

Melissa snorted again. “Scott also missed a billion days of school and could get away with stuff at work because his boss was involved. As for you, you haven’t missed a day of school until you were attacked by hunters. Principal Martin is aware and will be excusing you from classes until you’re better. It’s the least she could do.” Melissa’s face darkened for a moment before she shook it off. “Working is probably not in the cards for you, kiddo. At least not the kind of job that would help you get an apartment.”

Theo sighed. “Then I don’t know what to do.”

“Well,” she said, smiling at him. “I have a suggestion. Two actually. Dr. Geyer, Liam’s dad, suggested the spare bedroom at their place. David and Jenna are great parents and they’re ready for you to move in if you want. Of course, that means living with Liam. And I have to say moving in so soon? Aren’t you guys rushing this… whatever is going on between you?” Theo groaned and buried his face in the one hand not holding onto the Jell-O.

“What’s the second choice?” he asked once he realized she wasn’t going to move on.

“Well, the second choice is that you move in with Alec, Chris and I. And of course, Scott when he’s home.” Theo lowered his hand as he gaped at the woman in total surprise. She could’ve announced she was a werewolf herself and he would’ve been less surprised than in that moment. She lifted her hand to brush away the strands of hair that continued to hang in his face.

“I remember you, you know? When you hung out with Scott and Stiles. I remember you. I remember what you were like back then. That’s the person I see these days. Not the kid that killed my son and manipulated his whole pack. I see the kid that was himself manipulated and twisted into a weapon. I see a scared kid that made a choice to do good things even though it went against everything he knew. It wasn’t easy but I was able to get there eventually. And I want to make sure that you never lose sight of who you are again. I never want you to be that hurt or scared again.”

She lowered her hand from his hair to his chin and made sure he was looking into her eyes. “So there you go. Your choice: Liam or Alec. Neither of us will be mad when you pick the other. We just want you to be safe. So those are your only two options. You’re living with one of your pack because you’re not alone in this anymore, kiddo.”

And once again, Theo felt the damn break. Melissa didn’t say a word. She simply shifted him into her arms and rocked him slightly as he gave into the tears once again. It should’ve felt strange being comforted like a small child but it didn’t. It felt right. And for once he wasn’t going to overthink it. He was just going to let himself have this moment. 

* * *

 

Realistically, Melissa knew that Theo was capable of feelings things on a deeper level. She had witnessed several of his nightmares during the course of the last few days. She saw his tearstained face when she walked into the room earlier. She saw him that night with Gabe. So she knew the chimera was capable of emotions. She knew that he would most likely break down because his walls were too weak to protect him. But what she wasn’t prepared for was her own response to his crying.

She knew the kids considered her to be Pack Mom and she embraced the role wholeheartedly. She loved them all and she would protect them with every inch of her being. But they weren’t her kids. Scott was her kid. Stiles was her kid. Alec was now her kid. And Theo... He was rapidly becoming hers as well. Something about him called out to her maternal instincts in a different way. He really was just a scared kid that had experienced a lot of things that changed him for the worse but he wasn’t evil. Not by nature. He was trying and that made Melissa want to help him even more. She never wanted him to feel like that his only option was to go back to the chimera of death persona that had done nothing but cause him pain.

He shuddered as another wave of sobs wracked his body. She held him tighter, not caring that her scrubs were getting soaked. She wondered how long it had been since someone held him and told him that he didn’t need to be afraid. She made a silent promise to be that person. Although, she had a feeling she wouldn’t be the only one.

She felt Theo shift a little, trying to get his breathing under control. Her gaze flickered to the door and she caught sight of tawny brown hair disappearing from the window. She snickered and felt warm when she heard Theo echo the sound with a rough chuckle of his own. She pulled away to look at him. Her hand rested on his cheek. He glanced down after their eyes met almost like he was embarrassed. There would be none of that. She tapped his cheek until he was looking up at her.

“You don’t need to be ashamed of having emotions, Theo. You want to cry, you cry. You want to be mad, be mad. But just know that you have people that want to help you through those emotions, okay? Not just the angry puppy out there.”

Theo snorted and nodded. “He does seem him have some kind of sixth sense when it comes to me and feelings.”

“That he does,” Melissa agreed. She pressed a kiss to his forehead. She grinned at the light flush growing on his face. She never would’ve pegged him as a blusher but the proof was spreading across his cheeks. It was adorable. “You think about what we talked about. Like I said, you have a few more days. And I get that this is a lot for you right now. But this isn’t going away. We’re here now and we’re not leaving. And you’re not going back to sleeping in your truck. I’m tempted to let Parrish keep the keys so you don’t get any ideas.”

Theo ducked his head to hide his face. Finally, he looked up. “I’ll think about it. It is a lot but… I believe you. Also… I don’t want to go back to the truck.”

Melissa smiled. “Well, that’s good because none of us want you there either. So this works all around. And now I’m going to let Liam in before he wears a groove into the floor outside the door and his father kills him.”

She wasn’t even fully standing before Liam was pushing the doors open, focused only on making his way to Theo’s side. Melissa smiled softly as Liam took her previous spot, wrapping the chimera in a protective embrace yet again. Theo let out a small yet content snuffling sigh before leaning into the werewolf’s warmth. He snuggled further into Liam’s arms and buried his face in the younger teen’s neck. In turn, Liam rested his head against Theo’s, closing his eyes and looking settled in a way Melissa hadn’t seen since Theo was hospitalized almost a week ago. He had been snappy and irritable without his anchor… without Theo.

“I swear if those two don’t get it together,” Scott murmured as he stepped into the room to stand by her side. Her son was watching the pair with the same affection she knew was on her own face. “I guess we know who he’s choosing.”

Melissa snorted. “Yeah, I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

Scott narrowed his eyes but decided that taking pictures of the now sleeping pair was better than following up on what his mother was thinking. Or most likely, he figured it out too. Her son could be amazingly oblivious sometimes but he was pretty on point when it came to his pack. And it was beyond obvious who Theo was going to pick.

She didn’t know how long she was standing there until she felt a buzz in her pocket. She pulled out her phone to see a message from Chris asking about Theo. She hit the call button with a grin.

“I’d ask how you knew he was awake but... Mason,” she trailed off as he laughed.

“ _Yeah, Mason. So how’s he doing_?”

“Totally and completely overwhelmed mentally. Still a little weak but he should be okay physically in a few days. I talked to him about moving out of the truck. He said he’s going to think about who to pick.”

Chris hummed thoughtfully. “ _So my helpful informant told me that the house is about to be invaded by Puppy Pack members and an obscene amount packages from Amazon have just arrived courtesy of Lydia addressed to Theodore Raeken. So I guess that’s the hint to clean out Isaac’s room, huh?_ ”

Melissa couldn’t help but laugh. She glanced out the corner of her eye to see Scott rolling his own eyes while texting Lydia, muttering about overcompensating meddling banshees. But she knew he wouldn’t be making her return anything. They all knew how precious little Theo had of his own. Scott wasn’t going to do anything to stop them from spoiling him rotten. She grinned thinking of her own possible contributions to the effort. The chimera had very little in the way of possessions. It was to be fun to watch him collect things just for the sake of having them.

“Yeah, I think you might want to get started on that,” she finally said. “He’s going to be coming home in a few days.”

Chris agreed. They talked for a little longer before she heard the doorbell obnoxiously and loudly signaling the arrival of the puppy pack. She smiled as he grumbled about annoying kids though she could hear the fondness in his voice. Melissa shook her head.

If someone told her even a year ago that she would be dating Chris Argent, a man who’s family hurt her son in so many ways while fostering a stray orphaned werewolf and the chimera who killed her son while said son split his time between school, being an alpha and helping stray orphaned were creatures, she would’ve had them locked up in the psych ward. But now? Now she was excited about her relationship with Chris. He was finding less and fewer excuses to be out of town and now very firmly lived in the McCall residence with her and Alec. And now they were adding Theo to the mix.

She told herself she didn’t want any more children after Scott. After all, she was pretty much raising Stiles on the side. But it felt right bringing Alec and Theo into her home. It felt like they belonged. She rolled her eyes at her own sappy thoughts. It wasn’t going to be easy. Theo wasn’t the only one who had nightmares. Alec watched his whole family be murdered by hunters. Chris watched his daughter die in his sleep and suffered from hearing the dying screams of his father and sister. Melissa herself relived the agonizing moments that it took to bring her son back. They were all damaged. But she had a feeling that they belonged together. But still…

“If you bring me any more kids, they better be girls,” she warned her son, playfully. “Four boys is more than enough.”

Scott snorted, not bothering to look up from his phone. “You love us.”

“Shut up.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little angst but mostly fluff. That's pretty much going to be the standard for the rest of this story. Little angst and a lot of fluff. 
> 
> Ciao for now!


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Theo comes home, meets the pack and learns a secret or two while revealing some secrets of his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so sorry for the delay. My outline for the story was pretty specific and then all of a sudden Isaac, Brett and Lori decided to write themselves in. And then some ships started to make themselves known and now here I am. But I feel pretty comfortable with this final product. Hope you enjoy.

“Surprise!”

Theo stepped back blinking against the sudden light filling the previously dark foyer of the McCall home. The already small space seemed even tinier due to Scott’s entire freaking pack filling it up. And Theo wasn’t exaggerating. It was literally the entire pack, including allies and associates. He was aware that the McCall pack had more than just the handful of people he met but it was kind of overwhelming being the sole focus of some of their very intense gazes. Especially Jackson… wait, was that his tail?!

“Theo?” Liam’s voice snapped out of his thoughts, per the usual. He met the beta’s worried blue eyed gaze head-on. “Say something?”

“You know I could hear you guys from outside, right?” Theo asked, toying absently with the loose string on his hoodie. Well, technically it wasn’t his hoodie initially but it was on him now and he had no intentions to give it back. So the hoodie was his now, loose string and all.

“Well, yeah but what else were we supposed to say?” the previous owner of said hoodie asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Theo arched an eyebrow, looking pointedly at the banner by the stairs that proudly proclaimed ‘welcome home, Theo’. Liam rolled his eyes. “Can’t you just give us this moment? I just wanted to do something nice to welcome you home.”

“Good job, Dumbar,” a tall lanky teen that Theo had only seen in passing teased Liam before grunting at the elbow a smaller girl beside him threw against his ribs.

“You have to forgive my brother,” she started, rolling her eyes fondly. “I want to say it was the accident that caused severe personality damage but he’s always been this much of an asshole. Hi, I’m Lori Talbot. This is Brett. It’s really nice to finally meet you, Theo. Liam has told us a lot about you.”

“A lot,” Brett echoed, earning another elbow from Liam this time.

Theo nodded and offered them a wan smile. He knew about the Talbot siblings. The first victims of the Anuk-ite driven hunters. As far as the town of Beacon Hills was concerned, they were dead. But thanks to quick thinking from Scott and Liam, the siblings were smuggled out of town through Deaton’s various connections. Last he heard they were living somewhere on one of the Hale’s many properties somewhere on the East Coast. But here they were. Theo felt slightly on edge and he had no idea why. After the death of their pack, it was only natural that Scott invited them to join his. So they were pack but there was something about them that set him on edge. Well, not Lori so much. But Brett…

“So this is the little chimera that has our dear pack all twisted up,” Brett drawled. Silver eyes raked over Theo’s body with a ravenous look. Theo heard Liam let out a low growl. Oh, it wasn’t him that was on edge. He glanced at the beta who pouted but let his fangs retract. “Now, now Dumbar, you have to admit that pictures definitely do not do him justice. He is way hotter in person. And now seeing him up close, I totally get the hype.”

“Can you just not be you for like ten minutes?!” Liam hissed. Brett grinned which seemed to rile Liam up even more. Theo didn’t even need to look to know that Alec was watching the escalating madness with a look of awe. He made a mental note to nip that friendship in the bud before it even started. Alec didn’t need any more help in aggravating Liam. He did a fine enough job of that on his own.

“Boys!” Melissa yelled from the kitchen. Her head appeared around the corner a moment later. “Since you’re both feeling so energetic, get in here and help me finish with the food. Alec, take Theo’s stuff up to his room. Theo? Go mingle. Meet your pack.”

 Liam and Brett at least gave him apologetically sheepish looks before heading into the kitchen together. They hadn’t made it five steps before they were pushing each other. Theo gave it ten minutes before they were banished from the kitchen and the house altogether. Alec snickered before following Melissa’s instructions. He headed upstairs with the bag containing all the gifts and cards he had accumulated during his hospital stay. Lori offered to help him and for at least a brief moment Theo found himself completely, read blissfully, alone for the first time since he woke up in the hospital.

It wasn’t that he was ungrateful or even blind to what the pack was trying to do. But the truth was that he went from being on his own for most of his life to being surrounded by friends and family damn near 24/7. It was for the sake of all their sanity that Theo wasn’t going to mention that he had to physically bar Alec from following him into the bathroom a few times. He was too afraid to check if Corey was there. But based on some of the appreciative looks from Mason and growls from Liam at Mason, he was going to go out on a limb and assume that he wasn’t alone even then.

He was pulled from his thoughts once again by an odd yet familiar scent. He realized it was coming from the tall, curly haired werewolf standing in front of him. Theo knew he never met the other man before but his scent was one he had smelled before on several different occasions. Most of those occasions were when he was either with Scott or in Scott’s house. Though the scent was growing fainter over time, he could pick it up anywhere. So that meant this could only be one person.

“Isaac,” Theo said, after another moment of staring at the blue-eyed teen.

“I see my reputation proceeds me,” Isaac grinned. “I’ve been in Europe, helping Ethan and Jackson track missing omega wolves and pretty out of touch with the rest of the pack here. So imagine my surprise when Scott calls me and tells me that they’re cleaning out my old room to make space for a member of the pack that was homeless. I didn’t even know we had a new member of the pack to begin with much less one that was homeless and moving in under Melissa’s orders. So I had to hop on a plane and see for myself who was taking my place.”

Theo’s eyes widened and he knew his heart sped up. His control seemed to be a thing of the past these days. He felt more than a few eyes shift towards the pair of them. He swallowed and tried to think of something to say. Of course, his days of eloquence were also a thing of the past too it seemed as all that tumbled out was a rambling apologetic mess of word vomit.

“Hey, hey,” Isaac started, eyes widening somewhat. “Dude, relax before one of the others snitch to Melissa that I upset you and she kicks my ass. She’s really protective over the people she consider her kids. Like scarily protective and I’m not about to get her on her bad side on my first day back. So, relax, Theo It’s cool. The room is yours. Besides Chris was nice enough to hand me the keys to his condo since he pretty much lives here now.”

Theo nodded, feeling his heart slow down. “Um, I’m still sorry.”

“Don’t be. Seriously. It’s okay,” Isaac assured him. “I’ve heard about, you know? The things you’ve been through… the changes you’re trying to make…  I know what it’s like to be lost. And this is the best place for you. This place… it’s a good place to be when you’re lost. Just don’t stay lost for so long that you lose sight of what’s right in front of you.”

Isaac suddenly smelled sad and his gaze kept darting towards the side. Theo followed his gaze to see Scott, Malia, and Derek engaged in their own conversation near the kitchen. Neither of them seemed to be paying any attention to Isaac or Theo. Theo couldn’t figure out what was causing Isaac to be sad but then he caught Scott’s arm tucked around Malia’s waist. It was a natural gesture for the couple but it seemed to catch Isaac off guard for some….

“Oh,” he murmured. Isaac snorted.

“Sometimes you lose out on really great things when you’re so lost in your own bullshit. The things that probably could help you through that bullshit.”

“I never… I didn’t know,” Theo said, keeping his voice quiet.

“It’s okay. He doesn’t either,” Isaac shrugged. “Like I said don’t stay lost, kid.”

“Kid? You know I was in the same grade as you, Scott and Stiles, right?”

“Yeah, but I also heard you were skipped at least once back in the day. So you’re definitely not the same age as us.”

“Okay, but you’re barely a year older than me.”

“Yeah, but clearly that year has granted me more wisdom than you, junior,” Isaac retorted before ruffling Theo’s hair. Theo rolled his eyes but didn’t bother trying to hide the smile growing on his face.

He never knew what he expected when it came to Isaac but this was definitely not it. He heard the stories about how Isaac was the first beta in Scott’s pack, even before he became an alpha. He broke away from Derek to form a pack with Scott. In retrospect, Theo is actually not at all surprised that Isaac had feelings for Scott. It was pretty much the same situation between him and Liam. Liam was his alpha in many ways. Now he felt bad for the curly haired wolf. While he wasn’t officially anything with Liam, they were both aware of the feelings between them. He couldn’t imagine if Liam got involved with someone else, especially someone else in the pack. His heart hurt just thinking about it.

Liam’s head peeked around the corner of the kitchen giving him a quizzical look. Theo shook his head in response. He really did need to figure out how Liam was so in tune with his emotions. Then again, wasn’t it the same for Liam and his anger? Theo usually had a feeling that the beta needed him and it wouldn’t let up until they were back together. That wasn’t normal. And it was something that definitely bore further examination. He would totally get back to that but after he dealt with the pissed off banshee currently glaring him down.

Of all the pack reunions he was dreading, this was the one he feared the most. Lydia saw herself as the big sister of the Puppy Pack and had, for some reason, picked Theo to be her extra special project from the very beginning. He was really happy she lived across the country because he had a hard time keeping things from her when their only means of communication were phone calls and the occasional FaceTime conversations. He lost track of the number of times he came close to telling her everything that was going on with him. And apparently, that was a mistake. Because she clearly knew and she was very much not happy.

“Lydia… hi?”

“Don’t you dare ‘hi’ me, Theodore Karl Raeken!”

“How do you know my middle name?” Theo asked. Lydia’s eyes narrowed further. Using his peripheral vision Theo noticed Isaac slinking away. Liam disappeared back into the kitchen and pretty much any pack member within eye line of Lydia ghosted. He would call them cowards but the banshee was scary.

“We talk how many times a week?” Lydia continued like his question didn’t even register. It probably didn’t.

“Umm, like two or three times, I guess,” he answered when he realized that she was still waiting for an answer.

“You guess,” Lydia repeated dryly. “Yes, it’s three or four actually. We talk about three or four times a week. A week! I listen to you talk about your school stuff and what’s going on with the rest of the puppies. I’ve listened to you ramble adorably about biology, chemistry and even about a certain werewolf we all love… but nothing about what was really important. Not one damn word about being homeless or hungry. Nothing about the things that you needed.” She tilted her head to the side. “Why didn’t you tell me, Theo?”

“I… I almost… I tried… I just didn’t…. I’m sorry,” his voice broke by the end. He didn’t know why he didn’t tell her. Lydia had established herself as a person he could trust from the very beginning. She pushed through every boundary he tried to use to keep her away and was ultimately the catalyst for why he started hanging out with the puppy pack more often.

Their odd friendship started off very one-sided in the beginning. The banshee was frequently checking in on the younger teens but not in the smothering insane way that Scott and Stiles preferred. But since Theo didn’t consider himself part of the pack, he was surprised when Lydia called him one night a few days after the older pack left. He was short and to the point with her and then off the phone. He didn’t give it any further thought until she called a few days after that to ask him about school. This continued for a while until one day he broke down and actually talked. He came clean about damn near everything but being homeless.

It was Lydia who convinced him to actually stop pushing the rest of the puppy pack away because he didn’t feel like he deserved them. It was Lydia who got him to stop pretending he wasn’t smart in class because he didn’t want the other students looking at him more than they already did. If there was one person in the world he should’ve talked about… everything, it was her. And he didn’t.

“I’m so sorry, Lydia.”

Lydia sighed and crossed the remaining distance to pull him down into her arms. She was tiny but her embrace was more comforting than he expected. He let out a shaky exhale and allowed himself to wrap his arms around her waist. She hugged him tighter.

“It’s okay, sweetie. Just… no more secrets and hiding, okay?”

“Okay,” he whispered. He paused as one thought crossed his mind. There was still something that he never told any of the pack. Not even Liam, Corey or Alec. He didn’t think they would kick him out if they found out but at this point, it was better to just get everything out in the open. Lydia was right. The time for hiding was over.

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s just one more thing,” he said, scratching the back of his neck absently. “I… you know, it might be better if I show you.”

Lydia blinked but obliged and stepped back from him. She gave him an encouraging smile. He nodded with a drawn smile of his own and walked away. He moved through the crowd of curious pack members but didn’t stop to answer any of their questions. He stopped in the first empty room he could find and quickly stripped his clothes off before he lost his nerve. And then he let himself shift.

* * *

 

Lydia barely had time to question Theo’s abrupt exit before the rest of the pack was tittering around her. She rolled her eyes. “He said he had something he wanted to show us. His last secret. And no matter what it is, you’re all going to be supportive or I swear…”

She let the threat trail off but she was aware of her reputation in the pack. She would rip them all apart if they made Theo feel bad about whatever it was that he wanted to show them. Trust was something that didn’t come easily to the chimera and the fact that he was willingly showing this last secret was something she was going to cherish. She was also going to murder Stiles if he didn’t wipe that vaguely disgusted look off his face. Thankfully, Scott was on it. He elbowed his best friend on the side with a pointed look. Good alpha.

She didn’t honestly didn’t know what she thought Theo’s last secret could possibly be but the black wolf that was currently trotting in the room from the direction he disappeared to was not at all what she was expecting. She heard Mason and Liam gasping dramatically, saying something about the wolf being the one that chased them through the school last year. She tilted her head to the side, studying the wolf. Well, it wasn’t quite a wolf.

The animal was fairly large though she had been around both Malia and Derek while they were full shifted. This wolf was a hybrid and therefore just a little bit smaller than another fully shifted werewolf but larger than a coyote with jet black fur. Yellow eyes studied the room carefully and if she didn’t know better she would think that the wolf was defensive… no, worried. It was scared. She stepped forward making sure to keep eye contact. The eyes followed her every move and showed a more human-like emotion than found in normal wolves.

“Oh,” she said, breathing out. She moved until she was kneeling in front of the wolf, ignoring Stiles warning her to be careful of the wild animal in the living room. “I see. Thank you for trusting us with this. But you didn’t have to show us if you don’t feel comfortable. I just meant no more secrets that could hurt you.”

The wolf let out a yipping sound and butted his head against her hand. He lowered himself until he was partially lying on her lap. She laughed. “Okay, I get it. You wanted us to know. Thank you, Theo.”

She ran her hand over his back, surprised at how soft his fur was. After a few quiet moments, Lydia became aware of all eyes on the two of them. She couldn’t get a read on the room without turning around but she was certain that her hand was the only thing keeping Theo from running out of the room. And he was on four legs. It was going to be rough trying to find him if he did make a break for it. So she sat and waited for someone to make a move and break the silent stalemate they were all in. Thankfully, Melissa chose that moment to walk into the room with a tray of drinks. She paused taking in the strange sight of the whole pack surrounding Lydia and the sad looking wolf on her lap.

“Well, looks like I found my cuddle buddy during movie nights,” Melissa announced. She handed the tray to a stunned Isaac before joining Lydia on the floor. “You’re a beautiful wolf, sweetheart, but you’re going to need to turn back if you want to eat. Besides you’re not supposed to be straining yourself. I can’t imagine shifting like this is painless.”

Theo lifted his head slightly and yipped. Melissa tapped him under the chin. “I get it. But you’re supposed to be healing. Now go upstairs. Your room is on the right. You have new clothes hanging in the closet. Although I’m sure a few people in this room won’t mind the view, it would be nice if you came back with clothes on.”

Theo whined in a clearly exasperated and embarrassed tone before lifting himself off Lydia’s lap and bounding up the stairs. Melissa stood up and took the tray back from a still gaping Isaac. She arched an eyebrow looking around at the rest of the stunned people in the room, including Chris.

“Seriously? This is what stumps you? That he can full shift? If anything that just explains how he was able to stand sleeping in the preserve. It gets cold there at night,” Melissa muttered as if coming to the realization herself. Lydia smiled before glaring at the others.

“He’s going to come back down here. Get it out of your systems now.”

“He’s the one that chased us through the school!” Liam hissed. “That jerk. He’s the reason I told Mason about werewolves and the supernatural!”

“So he did you a favor,” Lydia retorted. Liam opened his mouth to reply but frowned thoughtfully. The frown was soon replaced by a soft smile and she had no doubt that a certain chimera was the reason for that smile. They were going to be so cute when they finally stopped this stupid just friends dance they were in.

The pack pretty much split up at that point, some going back to do their own thing while some followed Melissa into the kitchen hoping to steal cookies when she wasn’t looking. Lydia wished them luck. Melissa was always looking. She waited for Theo to come back. And a few minutes later, he came sauntering in where some of the new clothes she purchased for him. She squealed at the tight blue shirt that showed off his still impressive looking physique while also highlighting his eyes. She knew it would look perfect on him.

“You know it’s been awhile since we last saw each other and I’ve definitely lost some weight. So I would ask how you knew my size but….” Theo trailed off, grinning a little. Lydia smirked. “You’re very scary, you know that?”

“Oh, I know,” she teased, holding her arms out. Theo nodded and walked straight into the embrace she was offering, wrapping his arms around her in return. She held him for a moment before whispering in his ear. “Welcome home, Theo.”

“Thank you, Lydia.”

She pulled away not at all surprised to see him a little teary eyed. Her smile grew at the sight. She had every reason in the world to hate the chimera. But there was something about him. Something that he only allowed a few people to see. She knew that some members of the pack still had their doubts about him and while she didn’t blame them, it frustrated her. Because he was trying to change. And if he was met with resistance, he never would. But she had a good feeling that the pack was coming around… even her stubborn boyfriend. Melissa wasn’t going to let him hide anymore and once they all saw what a few were lucky enough to see… yeah, Theo was going to be just fine.

So she left him standing there with a small grin on his face and walked into the kitchen, intent on asking Malia if she wanted to meet up for brunch in the morning. She expected the she coyote to be drooling over cookies with Scott, Isaac and Mason. But she was nowhere to be found. She walked up to Stiles who was busily checking emails on his phone and pretending not to stare at Derek’s ass. That was really going to have to be addressed one day. But they held on this long, they could make it a little longer. But she swore if Liam and Theo followed after these two idiots, she was going to kill them all.

“Wait. Where’s Malia?” she asked, stopping next to Stiles. He looked up from his phone with a smirk growing. She didn’t like that look. It was always followed by something really bad. And if she didn’t like the look, she really didn’t like the words that came out of his mouth.

“Malia said she had something to discuss with our newest pack mate. I figured it was best to let them have that discussion in private.”

Lydia’s eyes widened and she jabbed a finger in his chest. Malia was her best friend hands down but the girl did not deal well with betrayal. She had been working with Malia to understand where Theo was coming from but it was slow progress. She knew she wasn’t the only member of the Pack trying to keep Malia away from Theo as much as possibly at least for the beginning month or so. But now Stiles let it happen when they were all otherwise occupied.

“You’re in big trouble, buddy. Big trouble!” she turned to see that Scott and Liam were already on their way out to the living room. “So much trouble!”

* * *

 

Theo didn’t know what to expect when Malia suddenly appeared in front of him saying that she wanted to talk. He never had an actual conversation with her since coming back from hell. It was mostly just her hitting him. And he didn’t blame her. He deserved it. He deserved so much. But she didn’t look like she was going to attack him this time. Instead she was watching him carefully, her hands straying up to toy with her shoulder length hair in a nervous gesture.

“Are you….”

“You full shift,” Malia blurted out. They both looked up as Liam and Scott appeared in the doorway, concern radiating from them. Liam’s eyes were already shifted. Malia growled and stomped on the floor. “I’m not… I don’t want to.” She stopped and raked a hand through her hair. “Look, I’m not good with words and stuff. So it’s just that Derek and I both full shift too. And sometimes when things get crazy we meet up and we run around the Hale property. Derek usually buys me breakfast after and then we just sit down and talk. It... helps. So you should come with us sometimes.”

“Really?” Theo asked, not really sure what he was hearing here.

“Yes,” Malia snapped, tucking her hair behind her ear. “I… I don’t hate you.”

Theo smiled as he recognized the meaning behind what she was saying. He wasn’t good with emotions either. So they understood each other perfectly.

“Yeah, I would like that. Thanks, Malia.”

Malia gave him a soft smile in return before spinning on her heels and returning to the kitchen yelling something about Lydia and brunch. Scott snorted.

“Malia saying ‘I don’t hate you’ is pretty much a declaration of love for her. I think that means you’re accepted.”

With those sage words of wisdom, the Alpha followed his girlfriend into the kitchen leaving Liam alone with Theo. It was far from the first time they’ve been alone in the past week or so but something felt different about this time. Like they were both on the same page at last. Liam smiled softly and crossed the room to stand in front of the silent chimera. He didn’t say anything. He merely opened his arms and let Theo walk into his grounding embrace.

Theo didn’t even know how much he needed this until he felt the beta wrap his arms around him. He let his body sag against the younger teen, trusting him to keep them both standing. Walking into the McCall house that he now called home felt good but this? Liam’s arms? That was truly what coming home felt like. He breathed in the scent that was distinctly Liam and let the tension fade away. He felt safe and happy and he could feel that coming from the beta too. Finally, he pulled away and met Liam’s worried yet smiling face. The other teen didn’t let him go too far, keeping a loose grip on his hip with one hand.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” Theo sighed. “It’s just… a lot.”

Liam laughed. “Yeah, I know. I think that everyone is just overcompensating a little bit. We just want you to know that we care, you know? That we all see you and we love you.”

Theo’s heart skipped a beat and he knew Liam caught it. “You love me?” he swallowed. “Like you love Mason and Corey?”

Liam rolled his eyes, tugging him closer and tangling their free hands together. “I think we both know that what I feel for you is nothing like what I feel about Mason or Corey. And it’s not like Hayden either. It’s different. It’s scary and awesome and so amazing. But to answer your question, yes. I do. I love you, Theo.”

Theo nodded slowly. “I… Liam, I…”

“Hey,” Liam moved the hand that was rubbing slow, soothing circles on his hip to rest on Theo’s cheek. “No pressure to say it too, okay? I know this is a lot to handle and I’m not trying to add anything to that. Besides, we both know how this is all going to end. We don’t need to rush it. We’re endgame.”

Theo leaned into the hand on his face and smiled. This idiot. “Oh, we are?”

“Oh yeah, we are,” Liam beamed in his direction. And Theo knew without a doubt that love was the only word to describe how he felt about this dork. “Thiam is totally endgame. Everyone knows this.”

“Thiam?” Theo repeated, choking on the laughter that kept bubbling up. “You gave us a ridiculous couple name? And we’re not even a couple yet.”

“Semantics,” Liam shrugged. “Besides, it wasn’t even me. It was Morey in there.”

“Oh my god, you’re all so ridiculous,” Theo laughed.

“Yeah, but you know you love it.”

“I really do,” he tightened his grip on Liam’s hand and used it to pull him even closer. He could feel Liam’s breath on his skin. Feel the rapid beating of the beta’s heart that was matching his own. “But mostly… I just… I love you.”

“Yeah?” Liam asked, softly.

“Yeah, I love you, Liam,” he whispered.

“I love you too, Theo. I love you so much.” Liam’s eyes watered slightly. “You are making it really hard to not kiss you right now.”

Theo leaned down slightly so their lips were barely brushing against each other. “Good. Because maybe I don’t want you to not kiss me.”

Liam rolled his eyes muttering something about stubborn, teasing chimeras before closing that small space between them and bringing him for a soft, chaste kiss. It wasn’t the raging inferno that Theo thought it would be. It was better. It was sweet and safe and loving. All the things Theo never knew he wanted or felt he deserved. And it was all here in this angry boy with a heart that was too big.

He didn’t know how long they were there lost in each other’s embrace but he did know it was definitely not long enough. He let out a low growl as the sound of clapping finally forced them apart. Scott and Alec were standing in the doorway unabashedly watching the new couple.

“I’m so happy that you two finally pulled your heads out of your asses. Really, I am. Because Lydia had some plans that bordered on illegal and Isaac was volunteering to help. That would never end well. But that doesn’t matter now because you figured it out on your own. Yay you. But for real, can you stop sucking face for five minutes and get your asses in the kitchen?!” Scott asked, exasperation coloring his tone though his face was too expressively happy for them both. “Mom won’t let us eat until she’s satisfied that you have enough.”

“Pasta! It’s pasta! Literally my favorite food in the whole world and I have to starve because you need to suck face with your stupid boyfriend.”

Theo shook his head even as Liam shifted growling in Alec’s direction. Alec responded with a growl of his own. They both turned back as Melissa yelled a warning from the kitchen. Theo couldn’t help the snort that escaped despite his best efforts to hold it back. It was just so absurd. They were absurd but they were his pack… his family. And he could feel the love thrumming through the bonds he had with them all, especially from Alec and Liam and Scott. He wrapped an arm around his stomach as more giggles poured through.

“What?” he asked once he noticed all three boys were staring at him with wide eyes.

“It’s just… I didn’t know you could make that sound,” Alec replied, smirking a little.

“Shut up, runt.”

“No, no, it’s amazing. I love it. I mean not as much as Liam but you know…”

Liam, apparently forgetting about their earlier warning, growled before lunging for the younger beta. Alec laughed and darted away with Liam hard on his heels. Theo and Scott both laughed as they heard Melissa yelling, a distinct screech of a banshee and then blissful quiet. Theo kept giggling even as Scott slung an arm around his shoulders and guided him towards the crowded kitchen full of hungry supernatural creatures. But they were more than just that. They were his pack… his family.

“I’m really glad you’re here, Theo,” Scott said, smiling, hugging him tighter. His heart remained steady. Theo smiled wider in response.

“I’m glad I’m here too.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thiam is officially happening. There is a probably going to be a brief little epilogue and then I'm going to consider this story done. But I'll still be dabbling in this universe. I had way too much fun writing this.


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which fluff abounds, the puppies continue to bond, nightmares are soothed, destines revealed, Liam sucks at problem solving and Brett is a damn distraction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the epilogue. I’m so sorry it took longer than I anticipated but it’s really long and not broken up. So I hope that makes up for it.

Warm. Safe. Secure. These were the first things Theo registered as he groggily started the journey to consciousness. He had been living in the McCall house for a few days and had slept better than he had in pretty much ever. But even the sleep he had for the past few nights didn’t compare to right now. Despite having a roof over his head and an actual bed, the nightmares persisted. He woke up most times before he could wake anyone else up and usually stayed awake. But now he was waking up naturally with the sun shining through his window. He felt unusually warm as well. But it was a good feeling. A safe feeling.

Not wanting to open his eyes and ruin whatever sense of peace had him experiencing the best sleep of his life, he let his senses do the work for him. He could smell several different people in his room, four according to the heartbeats. Now that he was paying attention, he could make out several snuffling snores coming from beside him. He relaxed as he recognized the pattern though it was usually in the room across from his and not right next to him. With great effort, he finally cracked his eyes open and had to smile softly at Alec sleeping beside him, oblivious to Theo’s scrutiny.

The younger werewolf was lying on his side, curled around a pillow. His curly hair was plastered to the pillow and a tiny bit of drool dotted the corner of his mouth. He looked ridiculous and comfortable. Theo shook his head slightly only realize his own pillow felt odd. He glanced down to see that it was slightly higher off the bed than normal. And the reason for that was that his pillow was resting on the lap of one Melissa McCall. Theo sat up slowly, not wanting to disturb either of the two occupants on his bed. Melissa was leaning against the wall with the pillow Theo had been using on her lap. Sitting right next to her on a chair pulled up closer to the side of the bed was Chris. And he didn’t even need to look to know that there was a shaggy head of brown hair resting on the floor at the foot of his bed.

“What the hell?” he murmured aloud. He flinched when he heard movement to his left. The chimera turned to see Chris waking up. The hunter was a light sleeper and Theo wasn’t at all surprised that the slightest amount of sound woke him up.

“Oh, you’re awake,” the older man said with a jaw-cracking yawn. He stretched his no doubt tense muscles but still managed to offer Theo a warm smile. “How are you feeling?’

“Feel? I feel….” Theo trailed off as the previous night’s events came crashing back. He had another nightmare. Nothing new really but this one was particularly bloody. Instead of the usual Tara haunting his nightmares, he dreamt that he returned to his Chimera of Death ways. He watched helplessly trapped in his own mind as he ripped his pack apart. Every part of him rebelled against what was happening but he was powerless to stop it. A voice in his head reminding him that this could be his reality. Theo shuddered. “What happened?”

“Well, you woke up screaming your head off,” Chris answered, his eyes gentle and his voice holding nothing but concern. “Took a while to get you calm. Took even longer to convince Liam that no, you wouldn’t be better off living with him. The nightmares would be the same no matter where you were living. Thankfully, you slept through most of that. It got pretty ridiculous, especially once Alec got involved. Though I think he was just arguing to help calm Liam down. He was pretty worked up for no real reason.”

Theo rolled his eyes, glancing at his sleeping boyfriend. He really did love that idiot. “I’m sorry that I woke you all up. Thank you for helping but you didn’t have to sleep in here. I would’ve been okay.”

“Sure, you would’ve been okay. But you responded better when we were all here and so we stayed. That’s what family does. They’re there when you need them.”

Theo nodded, unsure of what to say to that. Everyone in this pack talked about friendship and family like it was something that was so easy. But that ease wasn’t something Theo was familiar with. His own family had been… negligent at best, downright abusive and awful on their worst days. And there were always worse than good days back then. Tara was the only bright spot in his life and well…. As for friends, he never really had those before either. He skipped two grades at an awkward age where he was too small and too young to be in that grade. He stood out in third grade in all the wrong ways. Even the kids that were the nicest to him (Scott and Stiles) made it obvious that they didn’t always want him hanging around. So the idea that friends and family were supposed to be there for him just didn’t make sense. The track record in his life would prove otherwise.

“It’s okay,” Chris said, dragging him out of his thoughts. He met Chris’ warm gaze and felt some of the tension fade. The older man smiled softly and patted him on the leg. “Don’t overthink it so much, kiddo. It’s overwhelming but you’ll get it eventually.”

“You think so? Because I feel… lost sometimes. Like everyone is speaking a different language or something.”

“We have that in common, you know? My family… they weren’t the healthiest of families. It took me too long to see that it was having an effect on my daughter. I tried to make changes for her but…” Chris trailed off. “It was a little too late. I’m not saying that if I had changed sooner, Allison would still be here. But I am saying that I wasted so much time teaching her the same toxic nonsense. I made myself a promise that I wasn’t going to make the same mistakes again.”

“With your future kids?” Theo asked, slightly confused. Chris laughed abruptly.

“I was thinking more along the lines of with the kids I have now.”

“Kids you… oh,” Theo murmured, feeling his cheeks flushing.

“Oh, he says,” Chris shook his head. “How we about we make some breakfast? You have a checkup with Dean this week. And I don’t want him starting in like Liam about how you would be better off staying with them. Pretty sure Jenna is already one step away from kidnapping you in the middle of the night.”

Theo snorted but had to admit that it was true. He was starting to think that liking him was a family thing. Jenna Geyer took one look at him and melted. She had always been particularly kind to him on the days they hung out at Liam’s house. Those emotions were only amplified now that he and Liam were officially dating. She made it clear to him that the spare bedroom in their home was always open to him no matter what. Liam’s stepfather was equally as fond of Theo, though they knew each other better. With the opening of the supernatural ward at the hospital, Dean had started working with Deaton to better understand the supernatural world. This led to them roping Theo in as he had experience from the Dread Doctors.

He spent a lot of time with the two men and continued to meet with them pretty regularly even after the ward was open. Theo now knew it was their way of looking out for him, especially Dean. He was constantly asking Theo questions that the chimera knew he knew the answers to just because he wanted Theo around. And while he didn’t really get why, he still appreciated that his boyfriend’s parents seemed to adore him almost as much as his boyfriend did. Still, as much as he loved the Geyers, he was pretty content where he was.

He eased himself off the bed, stopping briefly to run his fingers through Liam’s hair, smiling faintly as he turned into Theo’s touch. He slipped ~~Liam’s~~ his new favorite hoodie on and followed Chris downstairs to start making breakfast for everyone. Despite having lived together only a few days, Theo and Chris worked well together in the kitchen. They fell into a rhythm of mixing, chopping, and frying that was practically seamless.

Theo was halfway through the pancakes when he heard Melissa, Liam, and Alec coming down the stairs. Melissa leaned over his shoulder looking at what he was doing. He snickered as she hummed her approval and gave him a quick one-armed hug. She pressed a kiss to his cheek before moving over to Chris who was working on the eggs. Alec bypassed them all to head straight to the table where he slumped over muttering quietly about it being too damn early to live. Liam paused long enough to give Theo a hug from behind and then moving over to the sleepy werewolf. Theo rolled his eyes as Liam continued to harass Alec. Those two…

“Wait, why are you cooking so much food? I know Alec and Liam eat like they’ve never seen food before but….” Melissa stuck her tongue out at the dual whines from the table. She turned back to Theo and huffed. “We’re going to be invaded by puppies, aren’t we? They’re going to get you tomorrow. Don’t we get you to ourselves for once?”

“Oh, we’re not going to be invaded. It’s a little too late for that,” Theo drawled. “So I already know how most of y’all take your eggs but Brett? Lori? You two are new. And also Buddhist. Wait, do Buddhists eat eggs?”

“Huh?” Melissa and Chris looked confused. Alec lifted his head slightly, bleary eyes tracking the room before settling on the far corner. Liam groaned and threw a banana at the wall. It was suddenly snatched out of thin air.

“How freaking long have you people been here creeping in the corner?!”

The rest of the Puppy Pack appeared prompting Melissa to throw another piece of fruit in their direction and Alec to bury his head on the table again.

“I have a better question,” Mason countered, staring at Theo. “How long has Theo just known we were standing there and not said anything about it?” Theo winked, flipping a pancake expertly.

Lori snickered. “To actually answer your question, Liam. Brett and I got here half an hour ago. We heard Theo howl last night. We wanted to come over then but it was really late.”

“Plus we know you’re an obsessive freak who would already be smothering Theo with your special brand of aggressive affection,” Brett chimed in. Liam narrowed golden eyes and Brett smirked wider. Lori elbowed him.

“Anyway, we got here this morning and ran into Nolan, Mason, and Corey. And for some reason, they all decided it was better to just sneak in instead of ringing the door like normal people. I would question it but… boys.”

“And this is why I asked Scott to bring girls next time,” Melissa muttered. She pointed at Lori. “I like you. You can invade all the time. The rest of you…”

“You love us,” Mason said. Melissa rolled her eyes and threw an orange at him. This time it connected. “Oh, gee thank you, the three supernatural people standing right next to me, including my loving boyfriend.”

“Not supernatural, remember?” Corey pointed out. “I’m actually the result a of a science experiment. And I don’t have the fancy reflexes.” Theo coughed quietly. And even though he never turned around, he could feel the other chimera glaring. “You can’t prove it.”

“Wait, I get how Lori and Brett heard Theo… but how did you three know to show up this morning?” Liam asked.

“Oh, normally I can’t hear you all when you howl but Theo is different. We were a pack before,” Corey smiled. “Still a pack.”

Theo could feel the heat rising in his cheeks again. This whole pack was making him weak. A few months ago, the idea of that would’ve made him sick. But now it just made him feel warm and safe. He cleared his throat.

“Right, so breakfast?”

There was a clamor of voices as everyone starting shouting out precisely what they wanted and then a flurry of activity as the newly arrived members of the pack, starting setting the table and working on more coffee. Melissa shooed Theo away from the stove to finish the rest of the pancakes and to start the French toast that Alec and Lori requested. Theo stood back and watched them all moving around in purely organized chaos. He wondered if this is what family was supposed to feel like. If this was what having friends felt like. It was good but overwhelming.

He cared. He cared about these people. All of them, even the Talbots. He would be devastated if anything happened to any of them. And in their world, something could easily happen. Hell, Corey, Brett, and Lori have all almost died before. Corey did die. He could lose them all. He could lose this sense of safety and belonging. Then again… wasn’t that what he deserved? Did he deserve these people caring about him? Him, the same person who has hurt almost everyone in this room in some form save for Brett and Lori and that’s only because he didn’t know them at the time. He didn’t deserve to feel safe or happy around them. But he did and it scared the hell out of him. Because sometimes he felt like this was just another trick. That he would let himself believe that this was his and that he deserved this and Tara would pop up to take it all away.

He didn’t know how long he stood there watching them and sinking further into his feelings of despair and darkness. But he felt the thoughts come to an abrupt stop when a pair of arms circled his waist and pulled him forward into a very familiar chest. Theo melted into the touch, bringing his arms around Liam’s shoulders. Liam pressed a kiss against Theo’s neck, finding the patch of skin left bare under the hoodie. His hands slipped underneath his stolen shirt, running up and down the chimera’s back, soothing him in ways he didn’t even know were possible. He sighed and settled further into Liam’s embrace.

“You okay?” Liam asked after a few quiet moments.

“Yeah,” Theo murmured. “Just... this is real, right?”

He could feel Liam’s smile against his skin. “Yeah, babe, this is real. It’s real and you do deserve this.”

“How did you…” Theo trailed off as Liam scoffed in his ear.

“You deserve us and we deserve you.” 

“Okay.”

“Okay?” Liam pulled back to look him in the eye. He rested a hand on Theo’s cheek.

“Yeah, okay,” Theo nodded. “I trust you. I don’t know if I believe it just yet but… I believe you because I trust you.”

“Good. Because I trust you too. I love you.”

“Love you too,” Theo whispered, closing his eyes and resting his head against Liam’s again, drawing comfort from the walking pile of contradictions he got lucky enough to fall in love with. He breathed in the scent of the werewolf and let his remaining concerns float away. “This is real. Okay.”

He shifted back to brush his lips against Liam’s when a blinding flash ruined the moment. What the hell? Then he felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket. He took it out to see that there was a new picture message from Alec in the group chat. A picture of Liam and Theo with the caption ‘Leo softness’. Theo didn’t even bother to acknowledge Mason’s indignant correction of ‘Thiam’ before launching himself at the younger werewolf who was no longer sitting at the table.

“I’m going to murder you, runt!” Theo yelled, chasing after the faster werewolf.

“That’s if you can catch me, old man. Must suck being a chimera. You’re so slow, Theo,” Alec taunted as they raced through the house.

Theo stopped with a smirk on his lips. “Didn’t anyone ever teach you, brat? It’s not about how fast you are but rather how much information you have? And I have a lot of information on you. Like your crush on a certain… oh shit.”

Theo turned on his heels and ran away as Alec jumped down from the second-floor stairs, golden eyes flashing dangerously. The older teen ran with Alec hard on his heels. Despite himself, Theo found himself laughing and the sound was echoed by the wolf chasing him. If this was what family was like, he could get used to it. He could even let himself believe that he did really deserve this. 

* * *

 

 “You plan on saving your boyfriend?” Brett asked, arching an eyebrow as Liam lounged at the table, lazily munching on bacon. Melissa watched as the beta paused for a moment thoughtfully before returning his attention to his food.

“I mean, I should because Alec is the worst but also I’m not. I know what it’s liked to be harassed by evil pack members about your source of mutual pining. So he’s on his own.” 

Melissa winced as more crashes and yelps came from outside the kitchen. They were going to end up killing each other… or the house. But still, she couldn’t deny that it was nice to see the pair having fun. They were so different from the boys that moved in. And while they still had some ways to go with Theo, it was clear that they were both finally starting to feel comfortable and at home. Good. Still…

“I swear if you break each other, we will kill you both. Supernatural healing be damned!” Melissa yelled, knowing they could hear her. A few seconds later, both boys were sheepishly slinking back into the kitchen. She rolled her eyes at the matching puppy eyes they were giving her and finally gave into the urge to smile. “Just sit down and eat, you goofs. We’ll clean up whatever you just did later.” They grinned in response, making their way to the crowded table.

Alec snagged a seat between the Talbot siblings while Theo looked momentarily confused by the lack of an available seat. Liam solved his dilemma by snaking an arm around his boyfriend and pulling him down to the space between his legs. He then wrapped his arms around Theo so that his back was resting against Liam’s chest. Theo burned a bright shade of red but made no move to break away from Liam’s embrace. Melissa knew she should probably be interfering here but it was obvious that the two needed to be around each other. Not to mention, it was beyond obvious that Theo was touch starved. It was only because of Liam’s ridiculous need to touch Theo all the time that the chimera was starting to accept affection from others. He was even starting to ask for it from others.

She sipped her coffee and listened to the teens bickering and bantering with obvious joy on their faces. She had worried, at first, about Scott leaving. She worried that she was going to be alone. For so long it had been her and Scott (and Stiles) against the world. But with him at school, it would be her alone. But then things changed and her son brought home a scared boy who just watched his family be murdered because of him. Then Melissa found an equally scared boy living in his truck. And suddenly, she wasn’t alone anymore. Then again, maybe she wasn’t as alone before either.

“It’s nice, isn’t it?” Chris murmured, wrapping his arms around her and leaning down so that his chin was on her shoulder.

“Yeah, it is,” she answered, watching the kids. “Does it make you miss Allison?”

“Yeah,” he admitted. “I miss her all the time though. But this also helps. I like to think that she would be happy for me. That I didn’t just drown in my grief. I found a new family with three really great kids and a beautiful woman…. who I love.”

Melissa whirled around in his loose embrace to stare up at him. “You love me?”

“Of course,” he grinned. “How could I not?”

She beamed up at him. “I love you too.” She raised a hand to caress his bearded cheek, smiling softly as he leaned into the touch. “Besides, I need someone to help me raise all these damn kids. They’re hard work.”

Chris laughed, and she had to admit she was addicted to that sound. “I would love to help you raise all these damn kids aka our three kids who are so incredibly self-sufficient that we didn’t know one was homeless and the little one was helping him feed you during your overnight shifts. Then there’s the oldest one who has the most flexible college schedule in the world while also maintaining decent grades.”

“Semantics,” Melissa shrugged dismissively, fighting a smile of her own.

“You’re amazing, you know that?” Chris asked, still laughing softly.

“I’m aware,” Melissa grinned. She touched his cheek again. “You are pretty damn amazing too. I hope you know that.”

And he was. She wasn’t oblivious to the way that Chris had taken to including himself in Scott’s life. It went beyond just a person affiliated with his pack. Chris helped Scott in the ways that his own father never could. She knew for a fact that Chris made regular stops at Davis whenever he was out of town to just check up on her son. He was fully on board with Alec moving in and made sure that he was listed as an emergency contact for both Scott and Alec at school. And now he was doing the same with Theo. She heard their talk earlier that morning. She wasn’t surprised that Chris had all but adopted Theo as his. They were remarkably similar in a lot of ways and Melissa knew that Chris didn’t want Theo to make the same mistakes he had. He wanted to help the chimera learn to deal with the guilt he suffered through and move past it. She really loved this man.

“Eww, they look like they’re about to kiss,” Alec whined. Melissa and Chris broke apart to glare at their adopted werewolf and then to Theo who echoed his disgust.

“Gross,” Theo shuddered before accepting the bacon Liam offered him from the plate right in front of him with a nod.

“Okay, I’m going to call foul here. You are literally sitting on your boyfriend and letting him feed you but you’re saying ‘gross’?” Melissa argued, the fondness she felt watching Theo be a normal seventeen-year-old creeping into her voice despite herself. But she couldn’t even get upset about it. He looked content and comfortable in a way she didn’t think he even knew he could be wrapped up in the loving arms of her son’s first bitten beta.

Theo paused, looking thoughtful for a moment. He glanced over his shoulder at the bemused boy holding onto him. Liam winked and Theo smirked in response. “That’s different,” he finally said, meeting Melissa’s waiting gaze with mirth dancing in his green eyes.

“Hypocrite!”

“Hypocrite with a very cute boyfriend,” Theo grinned. “It’s a very important distinction.”

Melissa snorted. “Yeah, well my boyfriend is pretty cute too.”

Theo and Alec tilted their heads to the side staring at Chris. “Yeah, I don’t see it.”

“We do,” Corey, Mason, and Nolan chorused. Lori had no response other than a furious blush spreading across her face. Brett seemed more amused by what was happening than anything else. And Liam clearly didn’t care as he was still munching on bacon. She didn’t even know they made that much bacon. But somehow the beta had a never-ending supply of it, most likely courtesy of his boyfriend.

“Guys, no! That’s so gross!” Alec protested. “You can’t say stuff like that around us. Chris is… he’s like our dad! You can’t check out our dad!”

Theo’s eyes widened as he looked first to Alec and then to Melissa and Chris. She didn’t need to look at Chris to know that he was probably smirking at the chimera’s sudden panicked revelation because she was doing the same. He shrugged after a long moment and settled back against Liam and focusing on his friends.

“Yeah. You’re all gross.”

“Says the dude literally sitting on his boyfriend in front of his parents,” Mason retorted, smoothly ignoring Theo’s brief moment of panic.

“You’re damn straight,” Theo countered.

“You’re all pretty gross,” Liam chimed in. “Besides you all chose to break in. I was content with just being this sappy without an audience.”

“It’s not fair you get all the Theo time,” Mason argued. “At least when he was at school, we all got to see him. But now it’s just you and Alec.”

“But tomorrow’s the big day, right?” Corey asked the thus far silent chimera. “You’re coming back to school?”

“Yeah, it’s been three weeks,” he replied, picking at his hoodie and that damn loose string he wouldn’t let Melissa fix. “I think I’m overdue.”

Melissa had thoughts about that. Though he was physically healed and all traces of wolfsbane gone from his system, it was clear that the attack wasn’t far from his mind. Not to mention, he didn’t exactly put up much of a fight when they insisted he take another week at home to rest and gain his strength back once he was out of the hospital. He wouldn’t admit it but she knew he was anxious about returning. She had to admit she was a little hesitant herself. The last time he was at school, his day was so disastrous that he ran away and almost died. She felt that she was entitled to be a little concerned.

“I can’t keep depending on Alec to bring me my homework. Besides he’s always bitching about it. I think he might be leaving some of my assignments out.”

“Dude, you have way more homework than should be allowed,” Alec argued. “Besides, you were sick. Sick people aren’t supposed to do homework.”

“They do if they want to maintain their GPA.”

“And what is your GPA?” Mason asked, genuinely curious. Melissa hid her smirk behind her coffee. She knew she was surprised (but in retrospect not really) when she found out how the chimera was doing in school.

“Uh, before I got sick, it was a 4.7. I don’t know what it is now that I’ve been out for so long,” Theo replied absently. Liam squeezed him a little tighter. Melissa started to reassure Theo that his GPA was intact, as she had several conversations with Natalie about that very topic when Mason cut her off before she could even open her mouth.

“Wait, I’m sorry. 4.7?! How the hell did you manage that?!”

“I’m taking two AP science classes in addition to biology with you guys. I’m also taking AP English. And I’m working on an independent study with Dr. Geyer and Dr. Deaton. So my grades are weighted… I never told you guys this?” Corey, Nolan, and Mason shook their heads. Liam looked smug. Of course, he knew Theo’s schedule. Of course. “Oh.”

“Keep this up and you might end up being valedictorian,” Chris said, earning a blush from Theo. Melissa snickered.

“The hell he is! That should be mine! I’ve worked my butt off and sure I don’t have a 4.7 but I’ve worked just as hard.”

“Um, Mason?” Theo asked, voice halting.

“You’re going down, Raeken!”

“Um, help?” Theo murmured, looking at Corey and then Liam. Corey simply vanished while Liam patted his boyfriend on the stomach.

“It’s best to just let him be when he gets like this,” Liam said, still rubbing circles on Theo’s stomach. “Bacon?”

“I think you have a bacon obsession, little wolf.”

“Are you saying that you don’t want it?”

“No,” Theo snatched the held bacon out of his hands. “I’m just saying you have a problem. Clearly, I want the damn bacon.”

Melissa watched as he shoved the whole piece of bacon in his mouth and silently demanded more cuddles from an all too compliant Liam while poking a still invisible Corey with his toe because the other chimera wouldn’t stop giggling at Mason’s increasingly more insane and dramatic plans to take Theo down without actually hurting him because they were friends. Theo, on the other hand, seemed completely oblivious to what Mason was saying as he was content with bacon and poking his friend. Yeah, they were definitely on the right track with that one.

* * *

 

Theo pulled his truck to a stop in his usual parking spot and took a deep breath before shutting the engine off. He had several hours to prepare for this but it was nothing in the face of the sheer anxiety that was coursing through his system right now. He didn’t even know why he was so worried. It was just school. He could do this. He looked up at the building and felt his breath catch. Yeah, he couldn’t do this. He should just go home and beg for another week off. Alec clearly didn’t mind collecting his assignments and if he did, he could always beg his boyfriend to do it for him. Yup, that’s what he was going to do.

He was about to put the key back in the ignition when his thus far silent passenger put a hand over his. “What are you doing?”

“Going home. What’s it look like?”

“Yeah, I get that but why? You reek of nerves and I don’t understand why” Alec continued in that perfectly rational because he wasn’t scared out of his mind voice. “It’s school. You’ve done this before. You’ve done this well before. What’s so different now?”

“Now everyone knows,” Theo admitted. “All the teachers, probably most of the students, they know about me. They know I was sleeping in my car and that I almost died and that Melissa and Chris took me in. I just don’t want people to look at me weird.”

“Dude, they’re not going to be looking at you any differently than they already did. For someone who spent a really long time using his looks and charms to manipulate the world, you’re incredibly oblivious to the effect you have on people.”

“I… what?” Alec huffed and hopped out the truck. Theo sat in silence for a moment before following him on autopilot. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means, Theo, that you’re hot. People were already looking at you. Just now people aren’t only going to see you as the mysterious loner bad boy. They’re going to see you as vulnerable and human,” Alec shrugged. “That’s kind of a turn on for people.”

“What?” Theo repeated, hating that he could feel himself blushing. He used to have a tighter rein on all of this. What happened to him?

“Oh yeah, sexy wounded badass is a thing,” Alec continued even as they approached the doors to the school. “Too bad you got cuffed before anyone could make a move.” Theo buried his red face in his hands. “Then again, it’s your first day back. People don’t know you two are a thing yet. So you’re bound to get a few people that think they should shoot their shot. Matter of fact, Corey, Nolan and I are pretty much betting on that. Mason seems to think Liam won’t let that happen and will do something incredibly stupid to prove you’re a thing. But I don’t think even he can be that stupid.”

“Why are you all like this?!”

“Genetics and pure awesome,” Alec retorted with no hesitation.

Theo glared and pushed the door open. He was about to respond when suddenly there was a hand yanking him forward into the building. It said a lot about his boyfriend’s lack of coherent communication that Theo wasn’t even surprised when Liam was practically bending him over in the hottest kiss they’d shared since becoming a couple two weeks before. Finally, Liam let him stand. Theo stood blinking dumbly for a moment before he let his gaze narrow in on his too smug boyfriend.

“What the hell was that for?!”

“I had to let everyone know that we were a thing before people started getting any ideas,” Liam answered, glaring at several students that had stopped to gawk at the couple. Theo rolled his eyes before punching him in the stomach.

“You’re an idiot.”

Liam gasped holding his stomach with one arm while also holding his hand out to Theo. A silent plea in his watering blue eyes. “Yeah, but I’m your idiot, right?”

Theo felt his mouth twitch even as he slipped his hand into Liam’s. He used their joined hands to tug the werewolf into a softer and more school appropriate kiss. “Yeah, dumbass,” he whispered against Liam’s lips. “You’re my idiot.”

“Congratulations, Mason. He really is that stupid,” Nolan declared, handing over what looked like twenty dollars. Corey and Alec grumbled and did the same. “Good thing Theo has a thing for stupid.”

“Bite me, Bambi,” Theo retorted.

“You love me,” Nolan countered, turning on his heels and leading the way to the pack’s first class of the day. Theo couldn’t help but smile as he followed his friends, still hand in hand with Liam.

He really thought that the day would be different with the changes in his relationship with Liam and official stance in the Pack but… it wasn’t. Nothing was really different. It occurred to him as he sat next to Corey in their biology lab that nothing was really different. It was just verbalized now. But they were his friends the whole time. They were his pack all this time. Apparently, he wasn’t as smart as he thought he was. He needed it to be spelled out for him. And now it was. And now he knew.

“You going to be okay?” Liam asked as they walked out of biology together. This was it. This was the point where his day went downhill three weeks ago. He couldn’t lie. The thought of going through the next two classes made him super nervous and he knew that Corey and Liam could both tell.

“I need to go,” Theo said in lieu of a real answer. “We’re going over the midterm questions today and I need to be there.”

“Are you sure?” Liam pressed. “No one will judge you or think you’re weak if you want to go home. It’s okay.”

“I know,” Theo replied. And he did know that. Melissa, Chris, and Scott had all told him the exact same thing repeatedly this morning until he finally muted their family group chat. He knew he could take the multiple outs that were being offered to him with no negative repercussions. But he also knew that the notes Alec had been bringing him home wouldn’t help him with the midterms. And he couldn’t afford to get anything less than a 90 on the exam. It would tank his GPA and put his independent study at risk. He couldn’t have that as much as the idea of school was making him feel uncomfortable. “I’ll be okay.”

“Just call me and I’ll be there, okay?”

“Yeah,” Theo said, taking a moment to enjoy the hug Liam was offering. “Yeah, I’ll be okay though.”

“I know,” Liam gave him one more uncertain look before heading towards his own class.

Theo took a deep breath and started moving through the doorway of his chemistry lab. He froze midway as the chemical scent hit his nose. It reminded him of that awful day. And then the scents started to mingle with what he remembered of his sewer home with the Dread Doctors. He swallowed the sudden panic down and took a step back only to find his pathway was blocked. His first instinct was to flinch away but it was soothed almost immediately by a feeling of belong, of family, of pack.

“I think you’re going the wrong way there, bud,” a voice rumbled in his ear even as he was propelled forward by an arm around his shoulder. Theo glanced up at the person.

“Brett?”

The tall wolf ignored his confusion even as he steered them towards an empty table. The students who normally sat there backed away slowly as Brett’s very intimidating silver gaze met theirs. Theo sat down, placing his books down on the table beside Brett’s. He watched as Brett fidgeted with some of the equipment on the lab table. Finally, he slumped down, resting his head in his hands.

“What are you doing here, Brett?”

“Chemistry?”

“No, I mean at school.”

“Oh,” Brett sighed, slumping lower. “So this past week has been really fun. I kind of forgot what it’s like having a pack around all the time. I missed it. And I know Lori does too. So we talked it over with Derek and he’s letting us move into his loft here full time. We’re going to finish up school here at Beacon Hills.”

“Oh,” Theo blinked. “So you’re taking AP Chemistry?”

“About that…. So maybe Liam told me that you were secretly panicking about coming to class without a member of the pack. And maybe I pretended I know a lot more about chemistry than I actually do so that I could be in this class with you.”

Theo smiled slightly. “And exactly how much do you know about chemistry?”

“Nothing?”

Theo snorted. “You know nothing about chemistry yet you basically conned your way into taking Advanced Placement Chemistry just so I could have a friend in class?”

“When you put it like that, it sounds really simple and kind of stupid,” Brett pouted. Theo knocked his shoulder against the born wolf.

“Thanks,” he whispered.

“Don’t mention it. Just help me not completely fail this class,” Brett whined. Theo snickered. Brett narrowed his eyes. “On a bright side, while you may be hot, you’re not enough for me to accidentally try to kill us all because I’m distracted.”

“My clothes might live to see another day,” Theo cheered. “The last ones were covered in bullet holes and stab marks but Dr. Geyer said the smell was what made them declare them to be a biohazard.”

Brett’s eyes widened as he looked at the chemicals on the table. “They really have stuff that can do real harm in here?”

“With enough chemistry knowhow anything can do harm,” Theo shrugged.

“Then let’s be grateful that more kids in this town weren’t raised by the Dread Doctors.”

“Yeah, we really should be.”

Brett huffed. “Look I’m not into the whole sappy words thing but you have to stop beating yourself up. You made mistakes but you have the whole pack wrapped around your finger. Clearly, they see something good in you. So stop moping about the past.”

Theo shook his head. “Things must be bad if you’re giving me a pep talk.”

“Asshole,” Brett laughed.

Theo grinned as well, sitting up straight as their teacher handed them their latest assignment. He glanced at Brett out the corner of his eye. The werewolf was staring at the paper with a mix of fear and regret on his face. But Theo also recognized the resolve. He had committed to this stupid plan and he was going to see it through. The chimera shook his head. With friends like these, the class couldn’t end so badly. 

* * *

 

 

“You stink. Actually, both of you stink,” Liam said, glaring at Brett accusingly. “What the hell happened this time?”

“So apparently we’re both ridiculously hot,” Theo shrugged, plopping down next to the angry werewolf. “The combination might have distracted more than a few people. I totally blame Brett though. Him and his damn eight-pack.”

“You really thought putting Theo and Brett anywhere near each other was going to be less distracting than Theo alone?” Mason asked, staring at Liam. The beta scratched the back of his neck. Mason shook his head. “Leave the tactical thinking to Theo. You’re painfully bad at it.”

“He is not,” Theo countered. “He has some good ideas. This was just not one of them.”

“Whose side are you on?” Liam exclaimed turning to face his boyfriend. He watched as the chimera’s face melted into the soft expression he loved the most.

“Yours,” Theo whispered, leaning in to peck him on the lips quickly. “Always yours.”

“So gay,” Alec muttered, earning a kick from Theo and an elbow from Lori. Liam has mentioned that he really likes Lori, right? Because she’s seriously great. “Also, dumbass, where’s your lunch? Melissa told me to take a picture of you eating.”

Theo rolled his eyes and reached into his bag. Liam recognized the exact moment that Theo realized he didn’t bring his lunch and he was totally screwed. It coincided with the intense scent of smug coming from Alec as he slid a second bag across the table. Theo blushed, ducking his head slightly.

“Yeah, I forgot.”

“Yeah, I know,” Alec retorted. “Good thing you have me.”

“Didn’t Scott have to text you and remind you this morning?” Corey asked, slyly. Alec flushed throwing a corner of his sandwich at the smirking chameleon. Liam grinned at the younger wolf’s embarrassment.

“Wait, why didn’t he just text Theo directly?”

“He did,” Alec laughed. “But Theo put us all on mute.”

“Why’d you do that?” Liam asked, knocking into Theo’s shoulder. The older chimera didn’t answer. He instead handed his unlocked phone over. Liam’s eyes widened as the screen indicated that there were no less than twenty-five missed message notifications.

“Those are the ones I’ve haven’t read,” Theo finally said, glaring over at Alec. “They’ve been chatting with me all morning. No one told me family was like this.”

“It’s called concern, Theo,” Liam said, pressing a kiss to Theo’s pouting cheek. “Your family is just concerned about you since we all know you would rather hide away and stay silent than to tell anyone what’s happening with you. This is what family does. It’s what you would do for anyone of us, but especially for Alec.”

Theo tensed for a moment, his eyes flickering to said younger werewolf and then to his phone. Liam hid a smile as he opened the messages and finally replied back to Scott, who had continued to message Theo despite not having a response. A quick glance over Theo’s shoulder showed that there were a few scattered messages from Melissa and Chris in the group chat with Alec chiming in to assure them that Theo was fine, just being stubborn and Theo. Liam kissed his boyfriend’s cheek again before returning his focus to the history project he had with Corey and Mason.

Peace settled over the table as the gathered teens bickered and bantered while just enjoying each other and the close bonds building between them. Having Theo back with them and the addition of Lori and Brett made everything click into place for them. And for the first time in a really long time, things felt good. So it made sense that the calm they felt was very quickly shattered by the familiar clacking heeled steps of their principal. Liam tensed as she came to stand slightly behind their table, specifically their chimera. He didn’t need to look to know that everyone was on the defensive at the moment.

“Mr. Rae… Theo, I need to speak with you,” she paused, eyeing the no doubt glowing eyes staring at her around the table. “In private, if possible.”

Theo let the sandwich he was eating fall from his fingers as he sighed heavily and started to rise from his seat. “Um, okay.” Liam rolled his eyes, pulling his boyfriend down and into his favorite spot against Liam’s chest. “Liam?”

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” Liam protested, though his gaze was locked on Principal Martin.

“The last time you spoke to him in private, he got so upset he ran away and almost died. He would’ve died if we hadn’t thought to check the preserve,” Alec added.

“So no, he stays here. With us,” Liam finished, though this was directed at Theo. He felt some of the tension slip out of the older teen’s body. He relaxed in Liam’s arms.

Natalie closed her eyes and nodded. “Yeah, that’s fair. Well, first I owe you an apology. I had a long talk with my daughter and an even longer talk with Melissa McCall.”

Liam winced in sympathy. He did not want to end up on the bad side of either of those women and in poking at Theo that’s exactly where Principal Martin ended up. He almost felt bad… almost. Still, he almost didn’t have a chance to know what it felt like to have Theo in his arms. That thought usually silenced any arguments he had about being mad at himself or the others for ignoring Theo’s suffering for so long. He had a lot of work to do there.

“I realize now that I was wrong in how I approached you,” she continued. “And I’m so sorry, Theo.”

“Uh, it’s okay. You don’t have to apologize. But thanks.”

Natalie mustered a small smile and nodded. “Well, that being said, talking with Melissa has helped me to see that you were suffering in silence all this time. And I’m aware you might not be the only one but you’re all I need to see to wake up so to speak. Given everything that you’ve been through, I think it’s important for you to have someone to talk to about… everything.”

“Like… a therapist?”

She shook her head. “More like a guidance counselor.”

“No thanks,” Theo protested. “Our last guidance counselor is still actively trying to murder us on a monthly basis, so I’m going to hard pass on that.”

“I thought you might react that way. And you’re right. Monroe was… an unfortunate mistake. As was my belief that I could keep the supernatural out of school. So you might say that the replacement guidance counselor is supernaturally aware and pack approved.”

“Huh?” they all asked together but their principal was already spinning on her heels and power walking away with instructions for Theo to meet with the guidance counselor after school to create their schedule.

Naturally, that meant that Theo was outside the guidance office promptly after school with Alec, Liam, Mason, and Corey in tow. Liam was only excused from practice between Coach was too busy gushing over Brett and his decision to try out for the team. Funnily enough, they somehow convinced Lori to try out as well. Liam knew Alec was torn between watching her tryout and being there for Theo. Ultimately, his loyalty to Theo won out. Thus he was there with the rest of them crowded outside the door that still had Monroe’s name on the door. But the voice beckoning them to enter was decidedly not Monroe.

She was thin with light brown skin and dark hair. Her face looked young but there was an intensity in her eyes that belied that image. Her lips pursed in a familiar faint sign of amusement as she took in the extra people in her office.

“I knew you wouldn’t be alone,” the woman started, that faint smile growing slightly. “Your pack tends to be very protective of one another. It’s the McCall Pack’s greatest strength and weakness.”

“You know about our Pack? You know Scott?” Liam asked. He couldn’t sense anything off about the woman but he thought the same thing about Monroe at one point. Still, there was something slightly familiar about her.

“I should introduce myself. My name is Marin Morrell. I’m the former emissary for Deucalion’s Alpha Pack. I’m also a clinical psychologist and I was asked here to act as a counselor for the students in this school who are very much affected by the supernatural as well as an interim emissary for the ‘puppy pack’ until your actual emissary comes of age.”

“We have an emissary?!” Liam yelped, looking around the room at the confused faces of his friends. Well everyone seemed confused but Theo. His boyfriend was looking between Ms. Morrell and Mason curiously.

“I thought Deaton was our emissary,” Mason said, also noticing the way Theo kept glancing in his direction.

“No, my brother is Scott’s emissary. But you, Liam, you’re an alpha in your own right. You have your own pack within Scott’s pack and as such you have your own emissary. But he’s still young.” She paused a smirk forming on her lips. “You all are. So much power at such a young age. It’s going to be fun work with you all.” She nodded. “Mr. Raeken, we will meet twice a week during your last period, beginning tomorrow. Mr. Hewitt, we’ll meet twice a week after school as well.”

“For what?”

“Emissary training of course. I’m not planning on sticking around this town forever.”

“I, um… wait, what?!”

But Morrell had nothing further to say. She was shooing them out a moment later. They stood outside her office in a stunned silence. All of them were stunned except for Theo who was seemingly not at all surprised by what they just learned.

“Dude, how are you not at all surprised that I’m apparently a Druid in training?!”

Theo appeared more surprised at their surprise than anything. “You’ve always been this way. I knew it when I first met you.”

“And it never occurred that this might be something I should know?”

“I thought Deaton told you,” Theo countered. “He’s always asking you to help. I assumed it was your training or something. I’m sorry.”

“No,” Mason sighed. “That’s actually valid. We all know Deaton works in mysterious ways. And now apparently we have his sister too.” He shook his head. “So what exactly does it mean that I’m a Druid?”

“You have a spark,” Theo explained as they started towards the field. “Stiles has it too but it’s more prominent with you.”

“So I have magic?”

“Yes?”

“Awesome!”

Liam snorted and exchanged amused looks with Alec and a smitten looking Corey. “Anyone else think this isn’t going to end well at all?”

“Nope! It definitely won’t end well at all,” Alec replied, laughing as Mason swatted at him.

“You shut your heathen mouths! This is going to be a great year.”

Liam saw Theo’s lips twitch into a smile. “I think it already is.”

“You sap,” Liam whispered, reaching for Theo’s hand. He let their fingers intertwine.

“Shut up,” Theo grinned, kissing him gently. “Love you, Little Wolf.”

“Love you too, my big bad chimera.”

Mason wasn’t wrong. It was going to be a great year. He had his pack. He had  Theo. This was going to be a great year.   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of this story. I definitely have more ideas for future installments detailing Theo's life with the McCall-Argent family and of course the Puppy Pack.

**Author's Note:**

> A bit of a cliffhanger but don't worry the next part is pretty much almost done. Should be up soon if anyone is interested. Thanks.


End file.
